College Of Nightmares
by Short Moose
Summary: When Andi heads to college in hopes of a 'normal' life, she gets more than she bargains for when she meets an old acquaintance. And yet, he has no idea who she is. This is part 5/10 of the Andi Hojem Series. I don't own anything -ShortMoose-.
1. Chapter 1

"Virgil," I said, turning back to him. "Welcome to Langara College."

"Wow." His eyes widened when he saw the building. "It looks great."

I smiled and nodded. "It's going to be great. Come on, let's go unpack." I touched his shoulder, and teleported us to the apartment building we had checked out ages ago. I opened the door and confused looks etched themselves onto our faces.

"Wade?" Virgil asked, his duffel bag dropping to the floor.

"Hey kids!" Wade Wilson greeted with a large smile. "Hope you don't mind that I moved in while y'all were gone." I looked past him and noticed he had already made a mess with his clothes. You know, for a guy that usually only wears his uniform, he has a lot of clothes. Where did that pizza box come from? How long has he been here?

"Uh, Wadiepoo?" I interjected. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at me like he was shocked at my question. "Dude, we're partners. Of course I was coming with you to college." I was about to say something, but he cut me off. "And plus, it's Canada! The motherland!"

"Wade, you're from Ohio." I laid down bluntly.

His mouth became small. "…But Deadpool's from Canada…"

I shook my head and sighed. "Oh, Wade. Why are you here?"

"Um…" Wade dropped his head like a guilty puppy. "I was going to move in with you guys." He mumbled sheepishly.

"Why?" Virgil asked, picking his bag up and moving toward the couch. Yeah, Wade moved my seventies couch in.

Another awkward pause came from Wade. "Uh…" he stared at the ground. "Because I don't like living alone."

"Wade," I began in a scolding manner.

"Andi." Virgil interrupted. "If he wants to stay he can stay." I raised my eyebrow in suspicion while Wade's face lit up like Vegas. "We could always use someone to tidy up the place while we're at school."

Wade's face dropped again. "Jeez, guys, look at my watch, I got to go." He picked up one or two of his clothes. "You guys can just send the couch back home." He gave a quick smile and wave before pushing the small button on his belt and disappeared.

"Kind of flighty, isn't he?" Virgil observed, which only made me laugh.

"Only when he's asked to clean. Other than that he's very loyal." We moved through the apartment, getting to the two bedrooms. "Which one do you want?" Both rooms were completely the same: one twin bed, one five drawer dresser, one night stand, and a small closet.

"I'll take the left."

I nodded. "Then I'll take the right." We went our separate ways to go unpack. I plopped my bag onto the bed, unzipped it, and started to neatly move the clothes from the bag to the bed. That's when I began thinking. I turned back to the open door and saw Virgil doing the same thing I was doing. "Uh, Virg?"

"Yeah?" He looked up from his bag.

"What would you say if Wade _did_ move in?" Stupid guilt!

He shrugged. "I wouldn't mind. Wade's kind of cool."

"Really?"

Virgil nodded. "Yeah. I mean, he'd have to sleep on the couch, and he would need to clean up his mess, but if he really hates living alone…"

A smile split my face in two. "Oh, thanks Virgil! Wade just…he just…he's like a little puppy. He gets all excited, and then you shoot him down, and then he has that face-"

Virgil began laughing at me. "It's okay, Andi. Daisy is my girlfriend, remember? I understand falling for the puppy dog face."

I gave a small blush. "Alright then, I'll call him after we unpack."

"After?"

"Yeah, might as well let him fester for a few minutes." Virgil chuckled.

"He's going to hate you for that."

"But then he'll love me again when I invite him back."

I went back to my room and continued moving my clothes. After a few minutes, Virgil's voice echoed into the room. "Hey Andi, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why is Wade so attached to you?"

I gave a small chuckle. "You know, I'm not sure. I'm probably just some surrogate kid for him to attempt parenthood."

A small smirk grew on Virgil's face. "You do that a lot, don't you?"

"I should get paid for it, I do it so much." I laughed and went back to unpacking.

"Have you ever made a list?"

I couldn't keep the laugh from escaping my mouth. "No. Let's see: Bruce, Dad, Wade, Tony, Dianna, J'onn, Wally, John, Gordon, Aflred (for a time), etc. Who knows, I might even meet someone else here."

"Like your list needs to be longer." Virgil teased.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I know too many people." You're not the first person to tell me that, I thought to myself, plucking the last shirt from my duffel bag and plopping it onto the bed.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"How was your first class, Andi?" Virgil asked a few days later during the hour break we had between classes.

"Boring. My calculus professor is about as old as Andy Rooney. And he has the voice of a dying cow." Virgil laughed.

"My Euro professor's pretty nice. He's funny, and not as old as Andy Rooney. Probably Morgan Freeman, or James Earl Jones." We were standing in line at the small generic coffee shop in the Student Union. "I'll have a large caramel macchiato, please. No whip cream."

"Because whip cream would totally ruin the manliness of that drink." I mumbled to him, hiding my chuckles. "I'll take a large hot apple cider, please."

The woman working at the counter left to fill our order. "Why do you have to bust my chops on everything?" He hit my arm playfully.

I took the hit like a man. "Uh, because you make it too easy. You're letting Daisy influence you way too much. I mean, come on. A _caramel macchiato_? Since when you do you drink those?"

A blush spread across Virgil's dark cheeks. "Last…last Christmas." He murmured sheepishly.

"Exactly." The lady came back and slid our warm drinks over while I handed over a ten. She handed back three dollars and twenty-one cents, and we left the small café. "Now, don't get me wrong. I like Daisy and all, but you're letting her make all of your decisions for you-"

"Out of my way!" A tall, pale man with a terrified look on his face, a jean jacket and pants to match pushed through the crowd of students, sprinting towards the southern part of campus.

"What the-?" Virgil began.

"Come back here, you little bastard!" Another tall man, this time tanner and wearing a black t-shirt that said 'Suck You', with a full head of hair and beard ran after him, a pistol clutched in his fist.

Wait, I know that guy. "Hannibal?" I called after him.

The guy turned around sharply and searched the crowd. His eyes met mine. "Do I know you?" He asked, taking a quick look back at his apparent bounty.

"Uh," I didn't really know how to tell him that a future version of him visited me almost three years ago. So I shook my head. "No. No you don't."

He took that as an answer, and he went back to chasing the frightened man.

Virgil stared at me with wide eyes. "That was Hannibal? Like, from the bus Hannibal?"

"Yeah." I said. "Do you want to follow him?"

Virgil looked at his watch uneasily. "We have class in twenty minutes." He looked down at my pleading eyes and sighed. "Alright, let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

We went after him, me transporting our drinks and stuff back home so that we didn't have any hindrances. Hannibal had followed the man into a shady looking building; it was probably abandoned. Virgil and I hung out behind a few cars parked by the building; far away enough to keep out of sight, but close enough to keep an eye on the building.

"Why do you wear that hat?" Virgil whispered curiously to me.

I pet the brim of my trusty black hat with a smile on my face. "It's Johnny's." Virgil grinned from ear to ear and nodded like he knew that was the only reason. "And it makes me feel safe. Kind of like, I can't get hurt when I wear it."

"So, it's like a security blanket?"

I nodded. "Sort of. To that same effect at least. Look." I pointed to the door. "He's leaving."

About twenty to thirty feet in front of us, Hannibal stumbled out of the building. We both strained our eyes, trying to see him clearer. After a minute, Virgil whispered, "He's hurt."

I nodded, taking in his several external wounds: he had two lacerations on his forehead and face, his right shoulder looked dislocated, he was limping, and had his left arm cradled against his chest. "Bad too. Come on," I began, standing up from my crouched position. "We have to help him."

"Andi, he could shoot us." He gripped my arm and kept me from going to Hannibal.

"So what? I'll heal you. We'll be fine, but he might not be without us." He stared at me with a hard look, and I only stared back.

He sighed. "Fine."

I tore my arm from his grip and began approaching Hannibal with caution. I stayed out of his line of sight, and followed him silently with Virgil, in turn, following me. He didn't seem to notice our presence. He didn't get too far before he stumbled even more, and fell over.

I couldn't stop myself. "Hannibal!" I called, breaking into a run and heading over to him. I touched the sides of his face, in hopes that he'd open his eyes. "Hannibal, please wake up."

Virgil was across from me, looking at his shoulder and leg. "Andi, we have to get him out of here."

I nodded, "Give me your hand." I took his and kept my other hand on Hannibal's forehead. I focused on the apartment and created a gust of wind to teleport the three of us.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

We reappeared in the living room.

"Oh, Andi." Wade shook his head as he looked up from his magazine. "You brought _another_ stray home?"

"Excuse me," I said, completely offended. "The only other 'stray' I've ever brought home was you."

"And look how well that turned out: I've been living with you for going on three years." Thanks Wade for telling the readers just how long it's been since I, the Author, first wrote you into the story.

He had a point. "Shut up. I'm trying to save a life." Changing the subject completely, "And put some pants on, we have company." I ordered, making grumble as he got up from the couch.

Once he left the room, Virgil whispered to me, "Does he ever wear pants?"

_That_ was a good question. "When he's off duty… no. On duty…sometimes." He chuckled and I hit his arm gently. "Knock it off, I have to heal him."

I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands together until they burned. Placing them over Hannibal's mangled body; I tensed my arm's muscles and concentrated on healing him. My eyes changed from their chocolate brown to a radiation green; his cuts started to shrink into nothing, and I hissed as an invisible knife carved my face in the same pattern. There was some kickback when his shoulder popped back into place and mine became dislocated. I gave a sudden yelp when my ankle spun the other way and my radius seemed to break in half. I retracted my arms once my bone broke and fell over, and unintentionally scrunched into a fetal position, my breathing shallow and erratic.

"Are you alright in there, sidekick?" Wade called from my room. He had stolen my closet and left me the dresser.

"Oh just _dandy_, Wadiepoo!" I yelled in his general direction, hugging my limbs to my chest. "Virgil." I stopped him from coming over to my aid. "Make sure Hannibal's okay."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. See? My hair's already growing and my ankle has twisted around again. Don't worry about me."

"Seriously, V." Wade come out of my room and over to us. Thankfully with a pair of jeans on. "Little Andi here can take care of herself." He bent over and picked me up from the ground. "Isn't that right, pumpkin?"

"I swear if I could move my arm, I would hit you so hard right now." I hissed at him. In response, he plopped me down onto the couch. "How's he doing?"

"He seems to be breathing okay."

I pulled out the pillow from behind me. "Throw this under his head." I tossed it to Virgil. "And you might want to back up in case he comes to. He'll probably wake up swinging."

"How do you know what he'll do?" Wade asked, lifting my legs up and sitting under them.

"It's Hannibal, Wade."

"From the bus?"

"No, from the convenient store." I rolled my eyes. "_Yes_, from the bus."

"I can't keep up with all of your "future people visits". When you get older, you need to not talk to past you. Because it just keeps confusing me."

"Well that's your own damn fault, seeing as _you_ started it!" I yelled at him. Uh oh. I wasn't supposed to tell him that.

His eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean, 'I started it'?"

My eyes shifted a little, trying to find a way out of this when I saw Hannibal twitch his hand. "Look! He twitched." I bounced off the couch and ignored Wade's further questions.

"Andi, what did you mean?" Wade asked nervously.

"Not now, Wade." I brushed him off and began lightly tapping Hannibal's face. "Hannibal?" I whispered, getting closer to his face. "Hannibal, wake up." His eyes shot open, sat up, and purposely slammed his head against mine. "_Meet The Robinsons_!" I exclaimed in surprise of the sudden attack. He tried to get up from the floor, but I forced his head back to the floor and straddled him, keeping his arms pinned. "See if I ever do you anymore favors." I rubbed my forehead a little, peeling some of the dried blood off from the previous lacerations.

"Who are you?" He growled, flailing around on the floor.

I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face up to mine. "I'm your new best friend." I matched his ferocity. "Hi, how're you doing?"

"Well, I'm pretty fucking lousy right now. I have this annoying punk sitting on me." I dropped him, and his head hit the hardwood floor with a soft _thunk_.

"Dude," Virgil began, bringing his face into Hannibal's line of sight. "You might want to be nice to her. She did just save your life."

"Seriously." Wade defended. "You are acting like a total dick right now."

"Well, considering the circumstances," It's just like me to take the other side. "I think he's reacting pretty normally."

Wade got an incredulous look on his face. "Would you pick a side?" He hit my arm.

"I'm sorry!" I turned back to Hannibal. "You're Hannibal, right?"

"Who wants to know?" He retaliated.

I pointed to myself. "Andi," I pointed to Wade. "Wade," and finally Virgil, "and Virgil, would love to know."

He gave a slight nod. "Yeah, I'm Hannibal King. What's it to you?"

"Who were you chasing, and why were you chasing them?"

"Familiars; vampire toadies."

"So, you hunt vampires?" He nodded. I looked over at the other two, "I don't know about you guys," then back to him. "But I'm in."

"In?" He questioned.

I nodded. "Yes. I am willing to help you."

He thrashed around some more. "I don't need, nor do I _want_ your help!"

"Well that's too bad." Wade said, making Hannibal turn towards him. "Because when Andi says you've got her help, it's impossible to turn it down. Mine included."

Hannibal then looked at Virgil. "And I suppose that means you too?"

Virgil shook his head. "Nope."

Both Wade and I looked at Virgil. "What?" Was asked simultaneously.

"As of last week I am a retired superhero. At least until college is over."

"Superhero?" Hannibal asked.

"Yeah, superhero. You got a problem with that?" I threatened.

He shook his head. "No. I've just never met one before. I hear about them on the news all the time though."

"Funny, I've never heard about any sort of vampire activity." I raised my eyebrow.

He just chuckled. "You obviously haven't been paying close attention."


	3. Chapter 3

Hannibal yawned as he sat on the couch. After that small verbal hit, he had calmed down enough for me to get off of him and for us to move our talk to the couch.

He stretched his arms up and yawned again. "I can't remember the last time I've ever been this tired."

"You're tired?" I challenged, looking over at him for the next seat cushion. "I had short hair this morning." I pointed to my now shoulder length braid. Wade wanted to braid it…I didn't question it.

He gave a louder yawn. "Shit. What time is it?"

I looked at my watch. "About seven fifteen." We had been chatting calmly for hours while Virgil went to a late class and Wade went on a job.

Hannibal groaned when he tried to get up from the couch. "I've got to get home."

"What for? The pizza is going to be here in five minutes."

He threw himself off of the couch and stretched some more. "Dinner isn't going to make itself."

I cocked my eyebrow in confusion. "Did you completely miss my call to Brunner's Pizzeria?"

"Not for me." He scrunched his face like he wanted to say something he shouldn't. "I really shouldn't be telling you this. But it's for my daughter."

I only smiled. "You have a daughter?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She's six."

My eyes brightened. "What's her name?"

"Anita." He began strapping his three different holsters back onto his person. He had taken them off when we settled on the couch and thrown them on the coffee table.

That smile of mine faded and a grey look dawned on my face. "Anita?"

He didn't notice. "Yeah." Hannibal kept beaming like the proud parent he was. "It, uh…was her mom's favorite name." His voice had an unusual shyness to it.

My head fell back onto the top of the couch. "Where's her mom?"

"She died." He said bluntly.

"Giving birth to her?" I asked, really hoping the answer was 'no'.

He just turned to me. "How'd you know?"

I gave a short scoff. "A friend of mine went through the exact same thing two years ago."

"Seriously?" He asked, squinting his eyes a bit.

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean the exact same thing. Baby girl, birth complications, named after her mom. Same name too."

He stood still and stared at me, almost afraid. "Really, now?"

"Yeah. But that was before."

He was lured in. "Before what?"

My voice cracked a little in sadness. "Before she became nonexistent."

Hannibal came over and patted my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Her father doesn't even remember her."

"That's terrible." The dad in him became quite offended at my statement.

I shook my head at him. "Don't blame him, his memory was wiped."

Hannibal stopped again. "You lead an unusual life with unusual friends, don't you?" He stared at me with uncertainty.

"Yes." I answered simply. "One more won't hurt, right?" I looked up at him; that question hanging out there for him.

He sighed and ran a hand through his short brown hair. He shot his indecisive dark brown eyes to mine and said, "I'll get back to you tomorrow." And then he left through the door before I could say anything.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The timer on the desk in the front of the lecture hall went off a few days later and the much taller (than me, at least), older blonde man with hints of red in his beard turned and looked at the clock on the wall from the middle of the room. "I guess our time's up." He said with a smile and a heavy Norwegian accent. He noticed the class begin to pack up their things and quickly spit out, "If you didn't finish, take your labs with you and schedule extra time at the door!" His last word was lost as the door closed behind the last student. Or so he thought.

He sighed and turned towards the front and saw a lump of a student still hunched over their desk. He calmly made his way over to the student and sat down next to them, and chuckled softly when he heard, "Pick up the phone, Wally."

When he saw the student's hand twitch, he took it upon himself to wake them up. "Miss Hawkins?"

I jumped up when I heard my name and turned to look at the professor with wide eyes. "Professor Caulder? You are very close to me."

"Well, you were sleeping in my class…for the third time." He folded his hands on the desk and looked at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry." I apologized gazing at the desk, avoiding his eyes.

"Why are you so tired?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. A lot of reasons."

"Try me."

I looked at him with pleading eyes, but his stare was stronger than mine. I gave a loud sigh. "Fine. You really want to know? Because I'll tell you. You'll think I'm crazy, but I'll tell you. My brother has stopped bring who he really is for college, my best friend refuses to talk to me no matter how many times I try to call him, my sidekick is on this quest to become a hero when I have told him time and time again that he already is one seeing as he's saved my life countless times, and now this guy that I met years ago comes in to my life, we become friends, and then he leaves and says he doesn't want to be my friend!" I became angrier and angrier with every clause.

Professor Caulder just looked at me, 'hmmed' and nodded his head.

_That_ really pissed me off. "_Hmm_? That's all you can say, hmm?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I want you-" And I stopped. He threw me a curve ball. That sneaky Viking. Nevertheless, my tired eyes gave a desperate message. "What am I supposed to do?"

"How should I know?" He responded calmly, very professionally. "I don't have a brother, my best friend talks to me everyday usually about this time, technically I'm his sidekick, and I try not to meet new people, save for my chemistry students."

I tilted my head slightly to the left. "Why?"

This time, he was the startled one. "Well," He began, not really sure how to explain it. "In my line of work, when I meet new people that I like, it…it fogs my mind and prevents me from doing my job."

"Teaching chemistry?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No. My other job."

"What is your other job?"

"Hey, Caulder!" A voice came booming from the back of the room. "You ready for lunch?"

We turned and my eyes went wide when I saw him. "Hannibal?"

Caulder shot me a look. "Hannibal is the guy?"

Hannibal froze and his eyes darted from me to Caulder and back again. "Whoops, wrong room." He tried to leave but I darted up the stairs and caught up with him in the hallway, tackling him to the ground about fifty feet from the lecture hall. I pinned him like I had a few days ago.

"Miss Hawkins!" Professor Caulder ran after me. "Get off of him."

"Not until he answers my question." I grabbed Hannibal's plain white shirt and pulled him up slightly. Strangely, he did nothing to escape. "What's it going to be?"

He completely evaded my question and returned with his own. "Why do you want in so bad?"

I didn't really have an answer. So I came up with, "I'm bored. I need a new hobby."

"You think this is a game?" Hannibal sneered.

I shook my head and brought him closer. "I like to kill people. I'm good at it. Unlike Wade, I can't make a living off of it. Not that I need to, but it'd be nice to support myself. Anyway, there is one rule: I can't kill just anyone. I need a name and a reason. Now these vampires, from the way you described them, they seem like real assholes. That's enough of a reason for me." By the time my little spiel was finished, I had let go of him and he was sitting up on his own.

He took a second to think while Caulder was kneeling next to us, looking at the extreme tension between us. Finally, Hannibal spoke up. "Would I have to train you?"

I scoffed at him. "Please. I'd most likely be training you."

"Do you have your own weapons?"

"More than you can count."

In one swift movement, Hannibal bucked his hips upward, pushed me forward and off of him, rolled me over, and pinned me to the ground. A small smirk crept onto his face. "You want to get killed? Fine." He got up and began walking away like nothing had transpired between us.

"How do I contact you?" I called after him and Caulder as they walked away.

"I'll find you!" He waved back and kept walking.


	4. Chapter 4

"Andi," Virgil warned me once I met up with him in the union and told him. "Are you absolutely sure you want to trust this guy? I mean, he's avoided you for days."

"Virgil, future me sent Natiecakes to tell past me about my little 'visits'. And he said that Hannibal is my third oldest friend. Why not make friends with him now?" Virgil sat down across from my at the table I sat at in the small diner.

"Just because he's your friend in the future, doesn't mean this is the time you guys are going to 'seal the deal', so to speak."

I poked my fork into the pizza casserole the school had decided to serve. "It just…seems like the most opportune time for us to create this friendship."

Virgil chuckled sadly. "Friendships can't be planned Andi."

"I know. It just seems like this is it." I thought about my previous statement, and laughed at myself. "I hate my future self so much. She makes me over-think things." I put my chin in my hand and stared into space. "This might not be it."

He shook his head. "This might not be it." He agreed.

"Why can't it be it?" I demanded to know.

He shrugged. "I mean, it can be. But it might not be."

This was getting confusing. I sighed, "Whatever. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, well then I'll probably see him later in life."

"I can assure you that you will." Hannibal came up and sat down next to Virgil in the booth. He was dressed in what I assumed was his usual white wife beater shirt and cargo pants. His beard seemed a bit too short though.

I stabbed my casserole and glared at him. "So what time are you from, Hannibal? 2015? Is there a flying DeLorean in my future?" I smirked at my own joke. I am so going to kill future me the next time I see her.

He smiled and shook his head. "Sadly, no. I'm from 2056, forty-six years into the future."

My eyes widened and my anger towards my future self dissipated. "Forty-six?" He nodded. "Oh, God. How bad?"

"Pretty bad." He turned and looked at Virgil in question. "I thought you were staying out of this?"

"Lord knows I'm trying." Virgil took a sip of his cola and began digging into his taco.

Future-Hannibal just smirked. "You've got to love it when being from the future just doesn't faze people anymore." He stole my fork and took a bite of my pasta. "Not as good as I remember." He tried to hand it back to me but I shook my head.

"It's yours now." I had a disgusted look on my face. "You got your germs all over it."

He just shrugged and took my plate. "Whatever."

"So," I began watching him in sadness as he ate my lunch. "I thought I told Natiecakes _not_ to let anyone come back."

He pointed his fork at me. "They don't know I'm here."

"That's not smart." Virgil interjected between bites and shaking his head.

"Well I had to see Past-Andi, and Future-Andi was all 'don't go there girlfriend' and I don't really listen that much anyway."

I chuckled at him and gave him a hard stare. "So what did you want to tell me?"

He just shook his head. "This is not the time."

I raised my eyebrow. "For this conversation?"

Future-Hannibal chuckled and shook his head again. "No." He stared sadly into my eyes. "Not yet."

My heart sank. "Then when?"

He shook his head from side to side a little. "About fifteen years. Give or take a few months."

I sighed. "That's so long."

"I know." He shared my depressed tone.

"Why can't we be friends now?" I whined.

He nonchalantly moved the pasta around with his fork. "Because I don't trust you yet. This is 2010, right?" I nodded. "I've had a bad stroke of luck with partners, and I'm not going to trust anyone for a long time."

My eyes became wide. "For fifteen years?"

Future-Hannibal nodded solemnly. "Fifteen years."

"I hate this." I pouted and he slid the pasta plate back over to me.

"Tell me about it, Kiddo." I picked up his fork and began eating again.

"Why can't we just be friends?" I said with my mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Future-Hannibal mumbled to me, making me swallow my half chewed pasta.

"I mean," I continued. "I know we just met and everything, but…I'm supposed to hang out with you and kill vampires and such. Future-me has told me so."

"If I'm not mistaken," He began counting down on his fingers. "But the Future-Andi that told you this was from seventeen to eighteen years into the future?"

I had to think about that one. "I believe so?"

"That's a lot longer than fifteen years."

I hung my head and pushed the left over noodles around with my fork. "I guess. I kind of wanted to get a head start on it though."

"Why?" It was Virgil's turn to ask questions.

"Because I'm going to get bored with this whole 'college' thing before too long." I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just so used to multitasking that I can't really focus without it." I looked up from my plate and saw Future-Hannibal looking behind me with a sort of fear in his eyes. "What's the matter?"

I heard someone clear their throat behind me and I knew in an instant who it came from. "What do you think you're doing here, Hannibal?"

"Uh," He tried to recover. "Having lunch?"

Future-Andi stepped forward and crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you know how dangerous this is?"

"Well, I know I don't need the carbs but I was really craving Langara's pasta."

"I'm not talking about your redundant health." Future-Andi spat, moving me over in the booth and sitting down, all the while shooting daggers at Future-Hannibal. "I'm talking about you being in a mile radius of your past self. And if you two meet…the shit will most definitely hit the fan." She threatened with a pointed finger.

"Oh lay off him." I said to her, defending him.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, 'lay off him'." It felt weird standing up to myself. "He hasn't done anything you haven't done. Sending me person after person like I'm a community bike! It's like you don't trust me to grow up on my own!"

"Hey," She tried to defend herself. "I'm only doing what my future self did to me. I went quietly, and so can you."

Hannibal scoffed. "Hardly. You kicked and screamed all the way, just like she's doing." Future-Andi glared at him harder, willing him to shut up. It didn't quite work. "Don't you give me that look, young lady. Lest you forget, I am older and wiser than you."

"Puh-lease!" She began arguing with Hannibal about absolutely nothing and Virgil and I gave each other tired looks.

"There is a little blue button on their belts that will send them back to their own time." I heard J'onn J'onzz's voice echo in my head.

I smirked a little bit and mouthed to Virgil, "Blue button." I nodded towards the belt, he nodded in understanding. "One." I continued to mouth.

"Two." He said silently back, reaching over towards Hannibal.

"Three." We both pressed the small, glowing blue button on their time belts and they both disappeared. Funnily enough, no one else in the cafeteria noticed at all.

Once both of them left, Virgil smirked. "I never thought I would be so grateful for silence."

"Me either."


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry about the mix-up! I'm trying to write this story so that I have the next chapter written before I publish the previous one, and I accidently posted the newer one. My apologies for the mix-up!_

_-ShortMoose_

"You know," I said to Virgil later that night. We were both in our respective rooms and had our doors open so that we could talk to each other. "I'm not that grateful for the silence anymore."

"Me either." He had a lilt of sadness in his voice.

"Are you alright? You've seemed off the entire time we've been here." A whopping two and a half weeks.

I heard him sigh. "I don't know. I guess I just miss the chase, you know? Being Static was all I could really think about in High School, and now… …I feel like I've lost my sense of purpose."

I inwardly smiled to myself. I knew he wouldn't be retired for long. "You know, nothing says you can't come fight vampires with me."

"Trust me, if I wasn't trying to have a normal life, I would."

"But we're not normal. So why try to be? Why not embrace what we are and enjoy being superheroes or mercenaries or whatever we want decide to be?"

"I really don't want to explain to Daisy that I've been Static all along. She'll freak out on me and yell because I didn't tell her earlier and it just won't be a good scene." Aw, poor Virgil, he's going through normal teenage relationship drama. "I really don't want to tell her."

That statement made me get out of my bed, walk across the hall and sit on the edge of his bed, making him sit up and face me. "You love her, don't you?"

"Of course." He said without missing a beat.

"And she loves you?"

"Yes."

"And you plan on marrying her?"

My final question seemed to stun him for a moment. "I…I hope to."

Point made. "Then you're going to have to tell her sometime, Hero."

He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Ugh! Now _you're_ calling me Hero too?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "It's just a name, Virgil. You should be proud of it. At least you're not known as a killer. That's all the public knows me for."

"That was your choice."

I shook my head slowly. "No it wasn't. The Lanterns came looking for me."

"You could have said, 'no'."

"And what would've happened if I did? Don't change the subject. You're going to have to tell Daisy."

And then he began whining. "I don't want to."

"Fine. Then live with a lie for the rest of your life. I hope that little piece of information doesn't ruin your relationship."

"What about you?" Virgil shot back. "You can't tell me you've told every one of your boyfriends about Arbora?"

His vile nature hurt a little, but I kept my composure. "I've only had one boyfriend, and he knew exactly who I was. And I knew who he was. That's why we even had a relationship at all. Johnny and I understood each other; we knew that the other had responsibilities over the other and we dealt with that."

Virgil just shook his head in indecision. "I just don't know."

"What if I told her who I am?"

His head shot up. "What?"

"I'll come out of the superhero closet if you do."

He just stared in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged my shoulders. "She won't tell anyone will she?"

"You know, I'm not sure."

"Hm." Oh dear. What have I gotten myself into? "Uh, I'm not exactly tired anymore. I think I'm going to…take a walk. Get to know the area a little, you know?"

"Okay," Virgil yawned and laid back down. "Have fun. And thank you. I'll…think about it."

I nodded and stood up. "Good."

I began walking out of the room when Virgil asked, "You've really only had one relationship?"

My hand froze on the door jam, freedom being so close. "Well," I've never told him the truth. "Not exactly."

"So you lied?"

"Sort of." Please don't make me go down this road, Virgil. I sighed. "The first time I ever shared anything with a man, I didn't know exactly what I was."

"What do you mean you didn't know what you were? How old were you?"

"Six." I mumbled and left before he could retort. I didn't even put shoes on before I left the apartment.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I practically ran down the three flights of stairs to the practically pitch black ground floor. I'm so stupid! How could I tell him that? I growled at myself and slammed against the door to open it to the outside. "I'm so stupid." I stared at the ground in dismay.

"Where're your shoes?" A voice questioned ahead of me.

My head shot up and I saw Hannibal leaning against a tree across the street from the apartment building. "I, uh…forgot them." I shrugged.

"Interesting." He had an unsure demeanor on his face when I came up to him. "You still want in?"

I nodded. "Most definitely."

He gave me a quick nod to the left and pushed off of the tree. "Come with me." He began walking at a steady pace and I fell in behind him. He didn't say anything to me for a while, there was just an awkward silence between the two of us for the longest time. We ended up close to the pier at English Bay a bit farther from Langara than I was comfortable with. He stopped me before we reached the main deck. "What I'm going to ask of you is pretty strange, but just think of it as a test run before we become…partners." The way he said it, it sounded like a dirty word.

"I am not having sex with you." I shook my head with affirmation.

He began laughing. "No. No. It's not that."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I was…uh…wondering if you could babysit?"

A smirk grew on my face and my right eyebrow rose. "Babysit?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah. Caulder and I were going hunting and Zoe is in Toronto on a school trip."

"Zoe?"

"My usual babysitter."

He was right, it _was_ a weird request. "Um… …yeah, sure I'll babysit Anita. No problem."

A smile crept onto his face. "Thanks. It's this way." He led me towards the left wind of the deck. He stopped at a large barge one hundred feet in. "Welcome to the Honeycomb Hideout."

"Nice." I observed the one side of it: really wide, very few windows, and a deck on the right most side. He brought me to the only visible door and ushered me inside after taking a quick look around. There was an immediate set of stairs that led up to a seemingly apartment like floor.

"This is the living space. The bedrooms, the kitchen, a 'living room', they're all up here. Downstairs is the workout room and upstairs is the lab which is full of computers and crap. And above that is the roof. Nothing too complicated. Uh, there's plenty to eat in the fridge; Anita is supposedly asleep right now. Andi," He put his hands on my shoulders and stared me directly in the eye. "I need you to promise me that if anything were to happen while I was gone, you would take care of it."

"Like, an attack or something?"

He nodded. "Exactly. You don't have a problem killing, right?"

I shook my head. "No." At that moment I teleported my katanas into my hands. "No problem at all."

"Good." He let go of me and looked up. "You ready to go?" Apparently Caulder was behind me. Way to fail ninja skills.

"Of Course." The Norwegian accent was starting to get annoying. "I still expect you to be awake tomorrow." He winked and patted my shoulder as he passed.

"How long are you guys going to be gone?" I called after them. "Virgil's going to worry if I'm not there in the morning!" The end of my sentence was lost to the slam of the door. Great, I'm stuck alone in a place I've never been with a kid I've never met, and there's a possibility I'll be attacked by something I've never fought before. Fantastic.


	6. Chapter 6

You know, for a place that smelled like an old McDonalds, it wasn't so bad. I mean, yes, the floors needed to be retiled, the walls painted, and the furniture definitely needed to be thrown away, but that's all coming from a kid whose families have the money to take care of things like that.

I walked around for a moment to gather my surroundings and get a feel for where I really was. Maybe hanging out here wouldn't be too bad.

"Who're you?"

I turned sharply around and stared down at a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes. "Hello. You must be Anita."

She tilted her head slightly to the right. "But who are you?"

I knelt down and held out my hand with a smile. "I'm Andi."

Anita scrunched up her face. "Where's my dad?"

"He had to go. But I'm your babysitter. We can have a lot of fun, you and I." I retracted my hand.

"I want my dad." Her eyes began welling up.

"Okay, okay." I put my hand on her head. "Everything's going to be okay." I said calmly to her trying to keep her calm as well. "I know you want your dad, but he's going to gone for a little while. Why don't I look after you for…an hour, and if after that you still want your dad, we'll go find him?"

"_We_ will?"

I nodded. "Yeah, of course. Deal?" I held my hand out once again. This time she shook it and nodded. "Great." I smiled widely. "How about we get you back to bed?"

Anita shook her head. "I'm not tired."

"Then what do you want to do?"

Her shoulders shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you want to watch a movie?" She shook her head. "How about we play a game?" She shook her head. "How about I make you a snack?"

Her eyes brightened a bit. "Like what?"

"How about I show you how to make my world famous rice crispie treats?" I emphasized 'world famous' and she broke out into a grin.

"Yes!"

"Alright, lead me to the kitchen!" She grabbed my hand and took me through the many twists and turns of the barge.

"Here it is." She was all smiles when she showed off the small kitchenette.

The tiny island and one wall counter with a stove and a sink, counters hanging above it, and a medium sized refrigerator to the left made the area seem quaint…nice…homey. It was perfect.

"Alright, kiddo," I knelt down to her eyelevel. "We're going to need a few things. Do you have any marshmallows?"

She shook her head. "No."

"What about Rice Crispy cereal?"

Again, she shook her head. "No."

"Well then." I stood up. "We need to get you dressed."

Anita tilted her head to the left. "Why?"

"Because we are going to the grocery store."

"Grocery store?"

"Yes, the place where you go to buy food?"

She shook her head. "I've never been to the grocery store before."

"Really?" Seriously, Hannibal? Every parent takes their kid to the store with them, whether they want to or not.

"Never." The little girl shrugged.

"Well then, you are going to be in for a treat. Now go get dressed." She smiled widely and ran to her room.

A few minutes later, she came back in a pair of jeans and a purple sweatshirt. "Andi," She began. "How are we going to get there? Daddy locks the door on both sides when he leaves."

"I have my own special way of getting out." I winked at her. "Hold my hand and close your eyes." She grabbed my left hand with her right. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Okay. One…Two…Three." On 'three', I took a deep breath and teleported us to the Giant Eagle supermarket just outside of Dakota. The city, not the state.

Anita's eyes lit up once she saw all of the lights, people, and colors of the boxes of food. "This is a grocery store?" Awe filled her voice.

"Yes, well one of many." I looked down at her and smiled at the excitement radiating from her. I tugged at her hand a little, just enough to get her attention. "Come on, let's get what we need."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"How did you do that?" Anita asked a little while later after the treats were made and cooling in the refrigerator and we were watching the Disney Channel in the living space.

"Do what?"

"Get us to the store."

I smirked to myself. "Magic."

There was a loud knocking from the door area and Anita launched from her spot on the couch next to me which made me, in turn, run after her. When she reached the door, she shouted through it, "What's the passcode?"

"Eight, one, two, zero, four." Hannibal's gruff voice recited.

Her face brightened as she jumped up and turned the deadbolt and unlocked the door. Once the door was open she leaped up into his arms. "Daddy!"

"Hey, Squirt." He squeezed her tightly as he carried her back in and shut the door with his foot. "You do know that it's way past your bed time, right?" He swung her around when she began giggling. "What are you laughing at, huh?"

"Me and Andi went to a grocery store." Anita's smile was so large that it showed all of her little teeth.

Hannibal was not as excited. "You went where?" Uh oh, I'm in trouble.

"A grocery store! Daddy, Andi took me to a store! It was so bright and nice and there were people everywhere!"

Happy was the absolutely wrong word to describe Hannibal. He set Anita down and knelt at her level. "Squirt, why don't you head to your room and you can tell me all about it when I tuck you in, okay?" Anita nodded and went on her merry way, not even noticing his strict tone.

"Goodnight, Anita." I called after her when she passed me. I turned to Hannibal and was actually intimidated by his glare.

"You took her out?" He asked, murder definitely an option in his eyes.

I simply nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"We were going to make Rice Crispy treats because she didn't want to go back to bed and you store nothing in your cabinets, so yeah, I took her to a grocery store. And what the hell is wrong with you? How come you've never taken her before?" I hit him in the arm with the back of my hand.

"Zoe has done the shopping since Anita was a baby. I couldn't leave the either of them alone; and I most certainly couldn't leave them alone together; something could have happened."

"So you let Zoe go out by herself?"

He scoffed at my ridiculousness. "Of course not. Caulder went with her."

"Why didn't Professor Caulder just stay here with Zoe here while you took Anita to the store?"

"Because I would have been too distracted by the possibility of killing suckheads to actually make it to the store."

I groaned and grabbed the sides of my head. He was so frustrating. "Hannibal, listen to me." I stared at him sternly. "You need to stop focusing on that," I pointed toward the end of the barge towards the city. "And you need to start focusing on her." I moved my point towards Anita's room. "Because if you don't, she is going to hate you for the rest of her life. Trust me, I hate my 'dad'. He sold me as a test subject when I month old and killed himself shortly after. Yeah. He wasn't thinking about what's best for me." That really got Hannibal's attention. "You need to concentrate on what's best for her. Take her out once in a while, go to the park, go to a movie, do something. All she wants to do is be with you, so give her some attention."

"I-" Hannibal began.

But I cut him off. "No talking. Once you fuck up that father-daughter relationship, you fuck her up. You see me? Take a good long look, because this is what you're little Anita will be like if you continue down this path. Please try and keep her from being like me."

"Why?" He questioned.

"Because I hate me." With that laid out on the table, I teleported back to the apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

I was mostly awake for Chemistry lab the next morning. When I got back home last night, I couldn't sleep so I stayed up and watched old reruns of the _Golden Girls_. Unfortunately, it only made me miss Wade's presence even more. I hadn't heard from him in two weeks and he's really begun to worry me.

"Miss Hawkins?" I looked up from my blank lab write and was stared down at by Professor Caulder's calm blue eyes.

"Yes, Professor?" I responded nervously.

"Now, I know I said that I wanted you 'awake' for class today, but I also meant that you should do some work while you're up. If that's not too much to ask." He said in a low voice so as not to disrupt the productive class.

"I'm sorry, I'll…do something." I looked down at the paper and picked up my pen from the desk. Caulder just stared down at me for a minute or so before sitting down next to me.

When I didn't even write my name he decided to take some sort of action. He folded his hands on the desk top and took a deep breath. "What's on your mind kiddo?" He asked softly.

I looked up at him in panic. "Chemistry, I promise."

He laughed. "You haven't thought about Chemistry since the first time you stepped into this classroom. So, what's got you awake for a change, but definitely not thinking about the wonderful world of science?"

"Nothing." I mumbled, scribbling nonsense under the first question.

"You know you can't lie to me, right?"

I gave a sad smirk. "Now I do." I murmured, crossing out my answer. "Hannibal was so mad at me." I shook my head and he gave me a pat on my shoulder.

"He's just a little overprotective." Caulder reasoned. "I've tried to talk to him about it, but he doesn't want to lose her." He then held my stare for quite some time. "Do you know how she was born?"

I lifted one shoulder a little. "Sort of. I mean, I don't know the specifics."

Caulder looked back at the class to find them not even paying attention. He rested his leg up on the desk in front of him as if to get comfortable. "Alright, I'll give you the short version. Hannibal used to be a vampire."

I cocked my head to the right slightly and knitted my eyebrows together. "Really?"

Caulder nodded. "Yes. He got mixed in with the wrong crowd about sixteen years ago. After being turned he spent five years as a 'vampire cabana boy', his words, to their leader. Then Abby happened. Abigail Whistler was a vampire hunter back in the day; she did a raid on the group he was with and she spared him…saved him. She took him home with her, back to the barge, and she gave him a cure. It took a while for him to be completely healed of the vampirism but once he was clear she trained him up. She made him what he is today." Suddenly, Professor Caulder broke into a smile. "And Hannibal, oh, he loved her the moment he saw her. He'd follow her throughout the compound annoying her with corny jokes and talking her ear off about nothing."

Unknown to me, a large smile had snuck its way onto my face. "It sounds perfect."

Caulder nodded. "It was for them. A mostly platonic relationship with a lot of innuendos was exactly what they needed. Abby needed to loosen up, Hannibal needed to be tied down." And then his tone changed dramatically from a light hearted one to a serious and sad one. "Unfortunately, five years later, we lost half of our team. All but Hannibal, Abby, Zoe, and I were killed. I was always in and out for this place and making sure that Zoe got an education, and that left Hannibal and Abby alone most of the time. And…well…you know, nine months later we have Anita." His eyes became very distant.

"But you don't have Abby anymore." He shook his head.

"No we didn't. Hannibal didn't know what to do. He had a delicate baby, and he himself was in a delicate state…and it just stayed that way. He always made sure to keep her out of harm's way by locking her up. I know it may seem very controlling to you, but he just doesn't know how else to handle it."

I asked, "He does know that he has to let her out sometime, right?"

Caulder nodded. "Hannibal knows that one day Anita will leave the nest, but he wants to prolong that indefinitely. Because once he loses her, he'll be alone."

"He'll still have you and Zoe." I pointed out.

He shook his head. "It won't be the same for him. He's never loved us nearly as much as he's loved them. I mean, Abby was his angel, and she gave him his beautiful child, we were just there for support."

Seeing his slightly disappointed face, I gave him a pat on the shoulder. "It's alright. I've got – had – a friend like that. Let me tell you, it sucks."

Caulder smiled slightly. "Ah, so young, and yet a little wise."

I chuckled. "I am smarter than I look. In fact, I'm so smart, that I've noticed that class ended about five minutes ago."

Caulder looked behind us to see that we were utterly alone in the lecture hall. "You know," He stood up and looked down at me with a strange smile. "You are a very interesting young lady. How you can capture one's attention with the slightest turn of your head." I brought my head back to the vertical middle. "See, you did it again."

"I don't mean to-" I began to apologize but he shook his head.

"Don't. It's a great trait to have. And you know; you could be good for him. We're too timid to break him out of his shell, but you might be able to."

I shook my head in disagreement. "I don't like doing other people's dirty work, Professor. I got caught in that once, while yes I did meet Wade, it did not end well for my employer." He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Meaning: I killed him."

"Hm." He again sat down next to me and stared into my eyes. "You're a little violent, aren't you?"

"I'm extremely violent." I agreed immediately in a lower voice. "I meant what I said to Hannibal. I do like to kill people. I know it sounds inhumane, but the way I do it and the way I see it, is that I kill the bad people." Caulder was listening intently with his right elbow on the desk and his hand folded in front of his mouth. "I kill the people that harm children, that kill the parents of young children right in front of them, that make people go crazy, that start petty riots, that threaten this planet." As I listed some examples I gripped the edge of my desk tightly. "I kill for vengeance. Not for myself, but for the people I know."

He interrupted me at this point. "That's not healthy kid and let me tell you why. Revenge is a very dangerous thing to be messing with. As soon as you start it's nearly impossible to stop. You should have seen Hannibal when Abby first took him out, it was angry…so very violent. He massacred everyone he could get his hands on."

I shook my head and held my hand out. "I'm not like that! I have complete control over myself." I raised my voice to just above normal.

"You are going to break the desk if you grip it any harder." He said calmly.

I let go, embarrassed, and placed my shaking hands into my lap. "Sorry."

His eyes pierced me like daggers. "Still think vengeance is a good idea?"

I nodded defiantly. "Yes." Caulder's face fell in disappointment. "Thinking I'm avenging someone whose been wronged is one of the only ways I can forgive myself." I was going to stop there, but for some reason this just slipped out, "My brother fights crime but he's not a cop. He's a superhero. And he has one rule: Thou shalt not kill. Now I love my brother more than anything on the whole damn planet, and to constantly disappoint him by breaking his one rule is _fucking_ depressing." I let my head fall to the desk heavily. "I'm such a fucking _losgainn_." I lifted my head up slightly and slammed it back down.

"Hey," He began to rub small circles between my shoulder blades. "Don't beat yourself up about that. If he loves you as much as you love him he's either going to forgive you or he already has. Trust me, I know these things."

"Oh, I'm sure you do. You're a very _sgoileir_. But, if you excuse me, I have to go kill myself." I stood up, grabbed my messenger bag and began leaving the lecture hall.

"Don't do that!" Caulder shouted after me while he chased after. "You can't let a little thing like that end your life!"

I gave a short chuckle and shook my head slightly. "Don't worry, I'll see you Friday." I slung my bag over my shoulder and left the room.

"She's… … …interesting." Caulder turned to the left corner of the room to see Hannibal lounging about at a desk.

"Miss Hawkins is conflicted." He made his way over to Hannibal and sat down next to him. "She wants to do the right thing by her brother, but she also wants to do the right thing by you."

Hannibal glared at him. "Suddenly I don't want her help."

"King, listen, she's ready to kill anything that gets in your way. Who knows, maybe you can hand the whole thing over to her, and you, Anita, and Zoe can go somewhere where there aren't vampires."

Hannibal smiled a far-off grin. "That would be nice."

Caulder stood up and slapped Hannibal on the shoulder. "Just don't be too hard on the kid. She's trying to be nice. As you can probably tell, it's hard for her."

~.~.~.~

Losgainn - Wretch

Sgoileir - Learned Man


	8. Chapter 8

"Where are you headed now?" Virgil asked me as I suited up. He was sitting in the living room watching television while I got dressed behind him.

"San Francisco."

"Why?"

"I'm going to hop to each of Wade's homes and see if there's a clue or something. Anything really." I strapped a dagger onto my right boot and a pistol to my left.

"Sounds like a plan." Virgil changed the channel and landed on SciFi. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Anything Virg." I slipped only one katana onto my back, the other I deemed not necessary.

"There's this guy in my calculus class and he keeps staring at me in an 'I'm going to stalk you' kind of way. I really don't want a stalker."

I gave him a semi-concerned look, not really sure how to advise him. "Just…stay away from him. Don't sit near him, don't talk to him, don't make eye contact. If he comes near you shock him or something and just get away from him and then call me and I'll be right there."

He nodded. "Okay." It wasn't a confident 'okay'.

"I'll be back." I picked up one of the shot guns in the weapons duffel bag that Wade left and holstered it on my right hip. Hopefully I wouldn't have to kill anyone.

"Good luck."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I stood in front of the excuse for a man wiping my katana on the leg of my reverse Deadpool costume, mask and all. "Jack," I warned, suddenly liking the fact that the black fabric hid the man's blood extraordinarily well. "I'm growing impatient."

"Why did you come here?" He asked bitterly, wiping the cut on his cheek with his sleeve. "I don't know anything. I've been stuck in that box for weeks." The man was average height, wiry, with short black hair, brown eyes, and coke-bottle glasses. What a dweeb.

"You are Deadpool's closest ally next to me. And since I don't know where he is, you most likely do." I brought the tip of my blade up to his neck. "So, Jack," I pressed the blade in a little, not enough to draw blood but enough to hurt. "Tell me where dear old Wade is, and why he's been avoiding me."

"Trust me, if I knew where Wade was I'd tell you. I hate the guy just as much you-" Swiftly, my sword came away from him and my right hand gripped his neck, lifted him up off the floor and slammed him against the wall.

"How **dare** you say I hate him?" I growled threateningly at him.

The man looked nervous, he was actually afraid. Good. "It's just that…most people who go looking for Wade want to kill him."

I rolled my eyes in frustration. "Do I look like most people to you?" I squeezed his neck once before loosening up slightly.

"Not really." He choked out, looking down at the outfit. "You kind of…look like Wade…except…eviler."

"That's because I am, Mr. Hammer. Although, unlike Wade," I gave his neck another tight squeeze causing him to groan and his face start to turn red. "I don't have a _Weasel_ for a friend." I dropped him to the ground. He fell into a heap of flesh, wheezing. "You're pathetic." I stared down at him in the dump that was Wade's apartment.

"And you're…a bitch." He coughed out, holding his neck tenderly.

I sneered at him. "Get used to it."

"If you don't want to kill him," Weasel began, sitting up on his own. "Then why do you want to find him?"

"It's none of your business. Are you going to tell me where he is, or not?"

Weasel took a while to answer. "Not."

My face was stoic. "Fine then." I grabbed him by his neck again and began squeezing. "You get to go back into the box." I picked him up like he weighed nothing and threw him in the Box that Wade had made for his enemies. It was just a really big box filled with so many sharp weapons that it was practically impossible to move.

"Please!" Came the muffle cries of the pitiful man. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"You had your chance!" I shouted to him, hitting the door with my fist.

"Please! Please, please, I'll tell you!"

I quickly opened the door and stood in the way so that he could not escape. "You have five seconds."

"Last time I saw him he was in Las Vegas. I had a gig there and he took it over and put me in this box. That's all I know, I swear to G-God." His voce began shaking at the deity. He really was afraid, wasn't he?

I took a deep breath and stepped into  
>the box and slammed the door behind me. "You know, you're about to make me angry. Up until now, I've only been a little miffed." I grabbed his collar and pulled his face slightly down to mine. "I know he was in Vegas. He told me. Where is he now?"<p>

"I-I really don't know. After Vegas we kind of…broke our friendship off."

I let him go. "Well that sucks for you, being stuck in this box and all."

His eyebrows knitted together. "I don't understand. You're stuck in here too, now."

I smirked. "That's what you think." I teleported out and locked the door from the outside. "See you around, Jack. Who knows, maybe I'll come back and we'll have another chat." I hit the door one last time before teleporting back to Vancouver.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Any luck finding Wade?" Virgil asked me not two minutes later. I had appeared in front of the couch in the apartment while he was sitting on the couch watching an old episode of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.

I shook my head, getting out of his way. "No. Weasel's been out of the world too long apparently." I plopped onto the couch next to Virgil and put my feet up on the coffee table. "Wade shut him in a box after his stint in Vegas."

"So what are you going to do now?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, maybe-"

"Can you please take the mask off?" Virgil interrupted me, staring into the red patches of the black face mask. "It just looks…mean. Kind of evil."

"Sorry." I pulled off the fabric mask and shook my short hair. I had chopped ninety percent of my hair off quickly this morning so I didn't have to get creative in hiding it. I kind of missed the short hair anyway. I laid the mask out on my lap and turned my head to the side in thought. "I really look evil in it?"

"Well," He tried to soften the blow. "Stereotypically the black makes it seem worse than it is." I raised my eyebrows and stared at him and his obvious lie. He was never very good at that. "It makes you look really evil. Like…Black Mask evil." He finally conceded.

"Really?" My eyes widened in surprise and I hung my head. "Wade told me that I should have just gone with his costume when I first got it. I probably should have listened to him."

Virgil nodded in agreement. "You might not look as scary. Although there are times when I worry about Wade's anger issues. And his crazy spells. And the yellow boxes he keeps talking about. Maybe it is the costume." Virgil, you're not helping.

I groaned, folded over, and hit my head onto the table. "Did I do something wrong? Is that why he left? Was it really because of the costume?" I began asking, desperate for an answer.

Virgil shook his head and began rubbing small circles between my shoulders. "Andi," He sighed. "Wade loves you and you know that. He'd do anything for you: die, kill, buy feminine products-"

"That was one time!" I interrupted, not moving from my current position.

"I know. I was just trying to remind you that he cares."

"He only cares because we're married." I mumbled.

His hand stopped and a dumb look etched itself onto his face. "You're married?"

"Metaphorically speaking."

"Oh, good." He sighed in relief. "I don't think I could have handled that if it were true."

I groaned into the table top. "Wade would have known what I meant." Virgil was about to say something, but a knock at the door stopped him. "What do you want?" I shouted at the door, face still attached to the table.

"It's Professor Caulder. I wanted to talk to you about class yesterday." His calm voice made me sigh.

"I'm not dead! You can stop worrying."

"Please, can I come in?"

This time, Virgil spoke up before I could. "Yeah, it's open." Groaning in disapproval, Virgil grabbed the collar of the costume and pulled me up. "Behave." He whispered to me just as the door opened and the much taller man, than both of us, walked in. He was in his usual brown suede sport coat, dark grey t-shirt, and dark washed jeans with brown Oxford shoes.

"Hello, Miss Hawkins." He sounded a little nervous when he saw Virgil and I. "Did I…interrupt something?"

Virgil shook his head and got up. "No. I'm Virgil Hawkins, her brother." He held out his hand.

"Caulder." He shook hands and came over to the couch.

Virgil checked the clock on the wall, saw it was almost five, and picked up his backpack from the floor beside the couch. "Andi, I have to go to psych then calc, are you going to be okay while I'm gone?"

"I'll make sure she's okay." Caulder piped up. Virgil raised an eyebrow at him. "I kill vampires."

He nodded slightly. "Right. Just what she needs, another Hannibal."

"I'm not as vicious as Hannibal but I can still hold my own." Caulder defended in a gentlemanly manner.

Virgil, again, nodded slightly. "Just…stay out of trouble." He opened the door, went out into the hallway, and closed it behind him.

Caulder turned back to me and opened his mouth in question. "I'm not trying to sound rude or racist for that matter, but you and Virgil are a strange combination for brother and sister." He began to trip over his words when I raised an eyebrow at him. "Y-you know, i-in a nuc-nuclear family type way."

"Well, if you're _that_ curious. Virgil's family adopted me a couple years ago."

When I didn't say anything more on the matter, he said, still nervously. "Ah. Well, that…somewhat…explains why you feel guilty.

"Guilty for what?" I was seriously confused.

"For killing people. I mean he seems like a nice enough kid-"

I touched my forehead with two fingers and gripped my cheek with my thumb. "Wrong brother." I mumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

"Pardon?"

I replied in a tired but understanding tone. "Virgil is the wrong brother there, chief. I was talking about my biological brother, Bruce. But then again, you didn't really know about him so I can't really blame you for thinking the wrong thing."

"Oh." He said, obviously embarrassed. "My apologies."

"Don't worry about it. I have a lot of family that you have no idea about. And I will constantly tell anecdotes about them without ever specifying who I'm talking about. So, be prepared." I hit his shoulder in a friendly gesture. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm worried about you." His deep blue eyes showed an immense amount of concern.

"I told you, I'm not dead. See," I took an obvious deep breath. "Still breathing."

He shook his head. "It's not that. It's just…you said you were going to kill yourself so nonchalantly. Like your life means nothing to you."

He had a point. My life really doesn't mean much to me. "That's because it doesn't. I've died before."

"Then you were lucky someone was there to bring you back."

I shook my head and grabbed one of the knives I had stashed in my boot. "No. See," I took the knife and cut into my cheek. "I have a healing factor." In a matter of seconds the wound had sewn itself up with no chance of a scar.

Caulder stared in awe, turning his head to the left when the healing process began.

"And I can't stay permanently dead; most of the time I just can't die. Can't age either, which can be both good and bad." My dark eyes became distant in depression and anger. "In a couple decades, when everyone I've ever known is dead…I'm going to be alone." My chocolate brown eyes shot to his navy blue ones. "Do you get it? Do you now understand why my life doesn't mean much to me? In the end, I'm just going to be alone, probably looking something like this…just living."

His face was stoic with just a hint of anger. "I do get it, and I do understand. But you must understand that there are other people involved in your life. There are people that care about you and there are people that hate you. They could be friends, family, teachers, co-workers. No matter who they are, they are all in the same boat as you now. Don't you think that they have some concern over how your life is going to end up once they're gone? They don't want you hurting like you are now. So when you say, 'I'm going to go kill myself, see you Friday,' they're going to wonder: why is she so depressed that she wants to attempt to end her life, even though she knows it's redundant. Now I'm asking; why are you so depressed?"

Didn't we go over this? "I already told you. My best friend won't talk to me, my sidekick has run away, I am constantly disappointing my brother even though he doesn't know it, I have no idea what's going on in my classes, and I can't seem to make Hannibal happy. No matter what I seem to do someone gets hurts."

"Alright," His tone and demeanor became more aggressive. "First off, Hannibal is never happy, so stop trying. And secondly: STOP. TRYING. You're trying too hard to please everyone and you can't. No one can. The difference between you and everyone else is that you take it personally. You can't…It's not healthy." He shook his head and gave me a fatherly stare. "You need to start taking better care of yourself, mentally."

"I'm not seeing a therapist." I said defiantly.

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to forgive yourself."

I said quickly, "I can't do that."

"Yes you can." He tried to be motivating.

"No I really can't. I've tried and I can't do it."

"Well you'll never get anywhere with that attitude." Caulder replied in a matter-of-fact way.

I groaned and became bitter. "Can't you just leave me alone? Let me live in my miserable thoughts about myself? Only then can I be truly happy."

"Maybe you and Hannibal are compatible." He observed. "He feels the same way about his life."

"Well ain't that just peachy." We sat in silence for a moment before I asked, "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss? Because if there isn't, I'm going out to look for Wade."

He sighed and stood. "I've said all I came to say."

"Wonderful." I jumped up from my spot on the couch, went over to the door and opened it. "It was really nice having you over and I apologize that I didn't have any refreshments out." Caulder came up to me. "Like I said before, I'll see you tomorrow."

He went out into the hallway. "Ah, Miss Hawkins," He stopped me from closing the door. "If you ever want to talk, you can call me, text me or whatever." He pulled out a business card from his suit coat pocket and handed it to me. "My number and address are on the back. I am available anytime."

I took the card and nodded. "Thanks, Professor."

"Just Caulder, please."

"Okay." I nodded slower, getting a feel for the new level of friendship. "Thanks Caulder."

"You're welcome…" He trailed off for me to return the gesture.

"Andi."

Caulder gave a slight smile. "Andi.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I didn't go out after Caulder left. I just changed into jeans and a t-shirt, made some ramen noodles and vegged in front of the television. Hours had passed before I realized that Virgil should have been home. I checked my phone to see if he had called to find it turned off. I turned it on to find one missed call and a voicemail.

Checking the voicemail, I heard, "Andi? Andi, it's Virgil. That guy I was telling you about in my calc class, he's been following me for a while. He's really freaking me out. I know you're probably out looking for Wade right now, but if you could make time to make an appearance, that would be great. Andi, he's running towards me…Andi…Oh God! Andi I need help…he's got fangs…ANDI!" I heard Virgil scream my name and the message went dead.

I sat there, shocked. What the hell just happened? I leapt up from the couch, grabbed Caulder's card and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He answered after three rings in a groggy voice. He must have been sleeping.

"Caulder it's Andi. I need your help."


	9. Chapter 9

"Andi," Caulder was suddenly awake and made sure to keep his voice level. "Just calm down and tell me what happened."

"I-I-I can't. You have to-to listen and-and you have to tell me what to do." I had my left hand holding my forehead as I paced in front of the door to the apartment.

"Look, I'll be right over, okay? Just stay there." He commanded.

"No no no. Um…I'll-I'll see you in a second."

"Andi wait-!" I snapped my cell phone closed and clenched it in my hand, cutting him off. I looked at the back of his business card and read the address. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and disappeared.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Andi? Andi!" Caulder shouted into his phone. Shutting his cell phone, he grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter and headed for the front door. Pulling it open, he came to stare down at my wide-eyed face. "Andi? How did you get here?"

Evading the question, I ran up and hugged him. "I-I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do! Please tell me!" I begged, sounding like a child.

He cautiously patted my back. "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure this out, but we just need to calm down." He held me a little tighter and it seemed to soothe me enough to be coherent towards him. "Now," He began, slowly pulling away. "What happened?" Caulder kept his hands steady on my shoulders to keep me from moving at all.

"It's Virgil. He didn't come home after calc. He-he called me and my-my phone was off so I couldn't answer-" As I continued to speak I was losing my calmness.

"Hey." Caulder gave a tiny shake to refocus me. "Take a deep breath." He paused and waited. "Okay? Calmly explain what happened after the call."

I nodded dumbly and began again. "When I turned on my phone, he left a v-voicemail. It was of him running from a kid in his class…he said he had fangs-"

That sprung Caulder into action. "Do you have your phone?" I opened my hand to reveal the small phone. "I need to hear the voicemail. Can you bring it up for me?" I nodded again, flipped it open and called my voicemail. With a grimace on my face I handed over the phone, he put it up to his ear and listened.

Once Caulder pulled the phone away, I asked in a whisper, "What am I going to do? I'm supposed to be able to protect him." My glossy eyes wandered, not seeing anything.

"We're going to find him." He said defiantly, putting his hands on my shoulders again. "I'm going to call Hannibal and then we're going to figure this out." He gently began to steer me towards the couch. "Why don't you sit down and relax while I go into the kitchen, call Hannibal and make some tea, okay?" I slowly nodded as he pushed me down and stepped away. "Relax. Deep breaths."

I took a shaky and quick breath. "How was that?"

He winced just a tad when he heard me breathe. "Good." He responded nervously while he inched towards the kitchen. "Try it again, but deeper…slower…_relax_."

The corner of my mouth twitched. "Did you mean that to sound dirty?" Even in my slightly stressed state I couldn't control what came out of my mouth.

Caulder tried to hide his smile, but the tiny glint in his eyes gave it away. "No. But by the sounds of it, the breathing helped." He turned back around and entered into the kitchen.

Trying again, I took a deeper breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it go. It settled me a little, just enough so that I could look around his place. It wasn't extravagant but it wasn't simple either: the walls were a 'manly' light blue, hardwood floors, no rug, a dark blue couch which I was currently perched upon, a matching chair to the left of it, a dark stained coffee table in between the couch and a modest sized television atop another coffee table. On the walls there weren't that many pictures, just two. One was of an older woman whom I guess is his mom, and there was another that looked like a strand of DNA. The twitch at my mouth started again. Caulder would have something like that.

Speaking of which, he came out with two grey coffee mugs. "Hannibal's going to be over as soon as he can. He told me to chain you to a chair so you wouldn't get away, but I don't think that's going to be necessary." He started to hand the cup to me and I started to reach for it, but he pulled it away with a questionable look. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen." I answered truthfully.

"Good." This time he handed me the cup. "It's Irish Cream." He took a spot in the chair and sat back.

"Oh." I nodded and held the warm mug in my hands inhaling the strangely intoxicating scent. "You know," I gave him a quick glance and saw him taking a sip of his. "This would be my first drink." _That_ made him look up with uncertainty. "Ever." I added nervously.

He leaned forward towards me. "Maybe it's not a good idea."

I put my hand up at him and smelled it again. "Just one sip." I reasoned. "It won't be that bad, right?" I asked myself more than him.

"Right." Caulder nodded along cautiously.

I put the rim of the mug to my lips and gently tilted it. The hot silky liquid flowed down my throat leaving a raw feeling behind. It tasted…good. It had a similar taste to just plain cream in tea, but it had an underlying tone of pure fire. Other than that it was fine. "Smooth." I rasped.

Caulder stifled a chuckle. "You don't have to drink it if you don't want to."

I looked into the swirling liquid and gave a slight smile. "I appreciate the gesture," With a smile I placed the mug onto the coffee table. "But I don't need it. Lord knows I want to drink, but I don't need to." Good job Andi, you're better for it.

"Not many kids your age would make that decision." He took another sip. "Nor many people my age." He set his own mug down and beamed at me. "I'm proud of you."

A smile graced my lips. "Thanks."

We sat in silence for a moment before be folded his hands in his lap and said, "Back to my original question, 'how did you get here'?"

Uh oh. "Um… …I'm not supposed to tell you." I shied away from him.

"You're not stalking me are you?" He joked lightly.

I shook my head. "No, no nothing like that. I can…um…" I trailed off and picked up my mug again and put it against my lips. "Teleport." I mumbled into the rim, taking another sip.

"What was that?"

I looked up at his concern filled eyes and heaved a large sigh putting my mug back down. I should probably do this sober. "You know how I can heal?" He nodded. "Well that's not all I can do. I can teleport, which is how I got here." I gave him a quick demonstration by disappearing and showing up on the other side of the couch. "And just to get it all out there: on occasion my emotions have been known to trigger a change of weather, and I can control plants."

He just stared at me with wide blue eyes. Maybe it was all too much at once. I sat there for a few minutes, looking at his shocked expression and hearing the silence coming from his mouth. "C-Caulder?" I tripped over his name with uncertainty.

Slowly, some life came back into his eyes and his head inched up and down. "Okay." His response was barely a whisper and his nod became more confident.

"Okay?" I asked wearily.

He took a large gulp from his mug and choked it down. "Yes." He rasped and took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank you for telling me. Now that it's out there…I can reassess the situation and we can go from there. Does Hannibal know?"

Good question. "Um…He saw me teleport, but I'm not sure if he realizes I healed him."

"You can heal others?"

I nodded. "Yes. If you want to see-"

He quickly held his hand up to interrupt me. "No! No. I…I don't think that will be necessary." He ended calmly, letting his hand fall back into his lap. He was silent for a few more minutes, taking deep breaths to try and process everything. Out of the blue, he stood up and grabbed my mug from the table. "Ha-Hannibal should be here any time. What kind of teacher would I look like if he saw me giving you whiskey?" He said with a tiny chuckle at the end and headed for the kitchen.

I silently followed him and took in the room: the theme was blue. A navy tiled countertop went across the left wall, with a stainless steel sink and dishwasher in the middle. There were a set of six pale blue cabinets above and below the counter. On the right wall sat a stainless steel oven and stove and a matching two door refrigerator. There was a beautifully dark stained four person table with matching chairs in the middle of the kitchen. The floor was tiled with two inch squares in various blues and greys in no particular pattern. It was absolutely beautiful. The countertop was adorned with simple appliances: a black microwave, black coffee maker, black toaster, and surprisingly, a white orchid in a grey pot sitting just to the right of the sink where Caulder was standing and rinsing out the mugs before putting them into the dishwasher.

"Caulder?" I asked softly so as not to spook him.

He didn't seem to notice my presence so I went and stood next to him. It was then that I finally noticed that he was dressed in a white undershirt and green pinstripe pajama pants with bare feet. Now I really feel bad.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." I apologized quietly, watching his hands stiffen at my voice.

He looked over to me, saw my jeans, _Batman_ t-shirt and bare feet, and said. "It's quite alright. I've been woken up for less."

I shook my head, staring at that orchid. "I couldn't sleep. Something was bothering me." Something's _still_ bothering me. "There's something different about that orchid." I mumbled mostly to myself.

Caulder moved his stare from me to the flower and shrugged. "It used to be blue."

"Really?" I tilted my head to look at it from a different angle.

"Oh yes." He nodded and gazed lovingly at the plant. "I found it in a nursery when I went to Virginia a couple years ago. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." That particular sentence made me smile. "Unfortunately it only holds the blue pigment for two or three blooms."

"Would you like it to be blue again?" I looked up at him with innocent eyes.

He pondered the offer for a moment and smiled adoringly down at me, "I would love that."

I reached over and touched one of the petals. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I could feel photosynthesis taking place in the flower; it was exhilerating to feel the plant _breathing_. I needed to get deeper, down into the genetic code. Soon I became lost in the many ins and outs of a cell searching for that particular pigment vacuole. And then I found it, a small blue vacuole that seemed to be faded into an almost white. The pale blue contrasted so dramatically with the green of the rest of the cell that it practically glowed. But it was a dim glow. Focusing my energy on the vacuole, the glow became brighter and the color darker. Letting my power go, I reached every cell of the orchid to revitalize the pigment. I could physically feel the dye washing over me and coming back and filling in the white.

Once the process was complete, I took my shaking hand away from the flower. I opened my eyes and smiled at the now blue orchid. "You're right." I moved my smile up to him. "It is beautiful."

Caulder was practically beaming when he looked down at me. "Thank you." His grin faltered slightly when he saw the gleam in my eyes. "Your eyes haven't always been blue, have they?"

I shook my head, my smile still going strong. "No." This time, he was the one who tilted his head slightly. "Don't worry they'll go back to brown in a few minutes. They turn green when I heal, and I guess with the pigment change…" I trailed off, the rest not really needing to be said.

There was a knock on the door, causing him to move away from the sink. "Well, nonetheless," He lowered his voice and went towards the front door. "They're very pretty."

My face heated up instantly. He thinks my eyes are pretty? Oh my God! I had an amazed look on my face when Hannibal came into the kitchen.

"What are you smiling at?" He asked gruffly as he made his way to the table and sat down.

I swallowed my grin and sat down across from him with Caulder to my right. "Thanks for coming, Hannibal."

"Yeah, well, Caulder made it sound urgent. But with your smiling, now I'm not so sure." He lightly joked.

I didn't laugh. Instead, my voice showed how worried I was. "It's my brother. He was taken earlier tonight by a vampire. I don't know if Virgil was left in an alley after he drained him or if he was taken," I got a grip on myself and said defiantly. "But I want him back. And I don't care who I have to go through to get him."

"Watch the vengeance, kid." Caulder mumbled to me, giving me a concerned stare.

Hannibal ignored this. "Where was he taken and when?"

"On campus, a couple hours ago. He was on his way home from calc when one of the other students followed him and attacked."

"It was probably one of their recruiters. Funny thing about vampires: while they may be traditionalists, they're always looking for new blood. No pun intended." He shifted in his chair and folded his hands in front of him. "Problem is I have no idea who he belongs to. You don't happen to know the guy's house, do you?"

I shook my head. "No. All I do know is that he's been creeping on Virgil lately; stalking him."

Hannibal nodded and responded, "I can get you a list of glyphs and house names in the area. You can track down a familiar…recruiter and go from there."

"You aren't going to help?" I asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry," He sounded genuine. "But I can't waste my resources, time, and possibly life for some boy."

My fists clenched in anger. "He's not just _some_ boy!"

"Andi," Caulder cautioned, placing his hands on mine and drew my attention. "There's not much Hannibal can do. He doesn't have anything to go on. We need to take this step by step. Research first, action later. We need to find out who attacked him, then we can find out where they are, then we can get Virgil back."

Hannibal cleared his throat and caused me look back at him. "I know you hate me right now," He began, staring me directly in my eyes and speaking in an understanding tone. "And I know that you would probably kill me if Caulder wasn't holding you down. But you have to understand that at this point in time I cannot help you. I don't know this kid, I don't know what he looks like, I have no idea why they hunted Virgil._ I_ can't walk around campus and stalk students without getting arrested. You, however, can."

"I can hunt them." I murmured to myself, the revenge factor working itself back in.

"That's where those mercenary skills come in, kid." Hannibal nodded. "Find these guys. Look for the glyph tattooed in plain sight, it could be on the wrist, it could be on the neck, it could be anywhere. Once you find them, interrogate sure to get your answers then make them sorry they ever crossed you. Make these fuckers your bitch."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Thanks for letting me stay here." I said to Caulder in the hallway after Hannibal left. He came out with a blanket and an extra pillow from the linen closet.

"No problem." He handed me the blanket and I plopped it down onto the couch while he placed the pillow at the head of the couch. "You probably shouldn't be alone tonight anyway. The loss of a loved one-"

"Don't!" I scolded him. "Don't talk about him like he's dead." My eyes had long ago darkened back to brown and they were begging him to stop.

Caulder sighed and came closer to me. "Andi," He gently placed his hands on my shoulders. "You have to realize that by now, Virgil is most likely dead." I shut my eyes and began shaking with sobs. "I'm sorry. But you have to understand that vampires don't play nice. They kill their victims." I was now on my knees bawling my eyes out like a child; Caulder stayed with me, coaching me through it.

"I…I-I was su-supposed to pr-protect h-him." I cried out. "We told them we were g-going to stay out of troub-ble, that we c-could take care of ourselves…" I sniffled. "That we'd be o-okay."

That broke Caulder's heart and he gave me a tight hug. "You are going to be okay. We can save still save Virgil. If the vampire has bitten him, he'll rise in three days and we give him a cure, like Abby did with Hannibal. You can still save him." He finished with a whisper, and it seemed to calm me just enough that he could loosen his hold on me a tad. "You just have to keep your head. No vigilante business. Once you find something out come talk to me and we'll figure out the next step, okay?" He voice was caring and it calmed me down to my core.

I nodded with tears falling freely. "Okay."

His hand made its way up and pet my head, smoothing down my hair. "It's late. Why don't you get some rest and we'll deal with this in the morning?"

I nodded and crawled onto the couch. Caulder snatched the blanket just before I lay down and covered me with it. I rolled onto my side and faced the back of the couch. "Goodnight, Caulder." I mumbled before drifting off. Jeepers this couch was comfortable.

Caulder smiled. "Goodnight, Andi." He whispered and began heading back to his room. He passed the kitchen and stared at the recently blue orchid. He looked back to me. "Sweet dreams."


	10. Chapter 10

When Caulder woke in the morning at eight like he always did, he began with his normal routine: take a shower, get dressed, brush teeth, eat breakfast, go to work. After he showered, got dressed and brushed his teeth, he began making his way into the kitchen, going through the living room.

It wasn't until he heard, "Stop it…let go of me…" That he remembered he had a guest.

He turned away from his journey and came up to the couch where I was laying. "Andi?"

I twitched my head away, completely oblivious to him. "Let go of me…please…" I whined.

Caulder, sensing my fear, came and perched next to me. "Andi?" He gently touched my forehead.

"Stop it!" I screamed at the touch and sat up urgently. Glowing blue eyes opened and flickered back to brown, synchronizing with my bated breath as it calmed. "Caulder," I said weakly, inching away from him. "Could you please back up a little?"

He obliged and stared at me with terribly worried eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah…just dandy." I replied, inching even further away. I began taking deeper breaths in order to try and calm my nerves. "I um…I just had a little fright, that's all."

"It sounded like more than that to me." He said in a very teacher-like manor.

"It's nothing, okay?" I defended quickly. "Look, it's my problem. I'll deal with it…in time." I ran a hand through my now messy hair. "Um, I really don't want to go back to the apartment right now, do you have anything I could wear? If not, it's fine, I'll just wear this."

Caulder was looking at me with a raised eyebrow, obviously stunned at my jump in thoughts. "I…I th-think I have something. Wait here." As if in a trance, he got up and headed back to his bedroom and rummaged through his closet and dresser looking for clothes. He came back a couple minutes later with a pile of clothes.

"Okay, I have a couple t-shirts, a pair of cargo shorts, and some socks. I don't know how you feel about underwear, but I have brand new unopened boxers if you want them." Aw, poor Caulder, I made him nervous.

"Um…not to be picky or anything, but do you have any long sleeved shirts?" I asked hopefully. He nodded quickly, dropped the pile and was heading back to the room when I shouted after him, "And I'll take the boxers, please!"

He came back with a black long sleeved shirt with a red maple leaf on it and a pair of orange and green striped cotton boxers. "Sorry, it was the smallest one I have."

I gave a small smile at the Canadian symbol. "It's okay. I like it. Can I take a shower?"

He nodded quickly. "O-of course, take as long as you need. I don't have to be at work until ten…for our class."

I gathered up the shirt and boxers and headed for the bathroom. It was simple: white walls, white tub with a shower head, white toilet, white sink, a towel rack next to the tub, and a mirror. I dropped the clean clothes in front of the sink and quickly stripped, leaving my bra, tank top, and jeans in the 'clean' pile. The shower was quick, just enough to get clean. I slipped the boxers and pants on before the bra and tank top. I was about to put the shirt on when I noticed a large not-quite-so-obvious blood stain on the back of it.

"Caulder?" I asked, opening the bathroom door and stepping into the hallway with the shirt in my hands.

"Yes?" He called from the kitchen.

"Do you have any other shirts? This one is stained with blood." I came further out and met him in the living room.

He saw me and gaped at my exposed skin. Oops. Tattoos. "Um…I…I might." But he didn't move.

I didn't know what to say. "Do you know who I am?" I mumbled, praying he didn't and was just shocked by the massive amount of leaves on my body.

He nodded dumbly. "I saw you on the news…long time ago, wasn't it?"

"Great." I sighed. "Don't tell Hannibal, okay? I'm supposed to be a good guy."

Caulder's eyebrows knitted together. "Why would he assume you were a bad guy?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm a mercenary. I don't save people like I used to." I gave a sad chuckle. "I can't remember the last time I saved someone's life."

"Is that all being a hero's about? Saving lives?"

"Well taking them isn't exactly heroic, now is it?" I said snappily at him. "Sorry." I apologized a moment later, suddenly remembering all that he's done for me the last few hours.

"It's okay. I'll get you that shirt." He reassured me before he went back into his bedroom.

After he left, I wandered back into the kitchen and smiled when I saw two bowls sitting on the table with a box of Cheerios, two spoons, two glasses of water and two empty mugs. "Oh Caulder," I mumbled to myself, taking the seat closest to the front door. "You're so sweet."

"Thank you." A voice came from behind me.

I jumped in the chair and turned to see a smiling Caulder. "Jeepers, you could've warned me!" I said, slightly angry and yet not.

"That would've taken all the fun out of it. Here," He tossed me another shirt, this one grey with 'MOOSE' spelled out down the right arm. I didn't understand the reference. "That one should fit; it might be a little big, though."

I slipped it on and it fit really well. "Perfect." I smiled at him and he sat across from me.

"I hope you like Cheerios," He began, pouring himself a bowl. "Because it's all I have."

I chuckled a little. "Well then I guess it's a good thing I love them." He smiled.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Concentration was not my strong suit that day. Of course, it never was in school, but I really wasn't paying my professors any attention. Especially once I saw a kid with a little mark on the back of his neck. Caulder had drawn me an example of a glyph, and the one the kid had resembled it. His name was Kyle, I think.

"Miss Hawkins?" My head shot up to see my psychology professor's, Dr. Layton, face staring at me with a smug smirk. "Could you please tell the class who was the neurosurgeon that cut the corpus collosum?"

Uh oh. I shifted my gaze for a moment before looking down the lecture hall at the girl's notes ahead of me, I said uneasily, "Um…Wil-Wilder Pennfield?"

Dr. Layton gave a short scoff. "You are a good guesser, aren't you Miss Hawkins?"

And being the smart ass I am, I replied with, "I am an _educated_ guesser." About half of the class giggled, and thankfully, Dr. Layton looked amused.

"Just to make sure you understand, you'll never get anywhere with 'educated guessing'. That's what experiments are for."

Keeping up with him, tit for tat, "Well, it's a good thing I wasn't planning on going anywhere."

"Miss Hawkins," He crossed his arms over his chest and rested them on his protruding stomach. He was an ugly man with greasy blonde hair, a circular red face and beetle black eyes. His clothes were not raggedy, but his overly large button down white shirt and light brown slacks with dark brown sandals made them seem like it. "I don't say this to many kids, but I do not have high hopes for you."

"I apologize for my rudeness, but how can I take your "high hopes" seriously when you act and dress as unprofessionally as you do?" The entire class was in awe that I said such a thing. I did not say it in a rude manner, it was an honest question.

Dr. Layton stared at me with ice cold eyes. Oh crap. Way to go, Andi, you've said too much again. "Miss Hawkins, please leave my class."

I inwardly sighed and picked up my backpack. "Um," I started, making my way towards the stairs of the lecture hall. "This was exactly what I was talking about." I made sure to mention before I headed out. I stood outside the hall and listened for the door to close with a bang. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. What a jerk!

"Hey," I spun and saw Kyle standing behind me, a grin on his face. "That was awesome."

"Thanks?" I began walking towards the science building where Caulder's class was and he followed.

Kyle was a pretty good looking kid. He had a lighter skin tone with pale blue eyes and a brown crew-cut. He was pretty tall, a little shorter than Caulder, but he was filled out, not to an excess but healthy looking. He stared at me for a moment with a light in his eyes. "Hey, there's a party going on tonight, do you want to come?"

Oh my God. This is it. I smiled, "Sure."

Suddenly, a group of students from out psychology class started running towards us and began a group. "Great. Here," He pulled out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and handed me a business card. There was a copy of the symbol on his neck on one side and an address on the other. "The party starts at dusk." Kyle threw on a grin.

"I'll be there." He gave me a wink and pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered.

"That was great!" "You killed him!" "Layton was absolutely crushed!"The kids were cheering for me. "We all walked out!"

I tried to keep an eye on where Kyle had gone but he had disappeared into another classroom. "That's fantastic." I said absent mindedly to the group. "Excuse me, I-I have to…go to class." Some had made a path for me and others still followed. Once I had reached Caulder's office, I gave a sharp turn towards those who were still gushing at me. "Guys! Seriously! I have to go to class!" They had begrudgingly dispersed and I opened the door and walked inside.

"Andi? What are you doing here?" Caulder was just settling in with a fresh cup of tea before our class. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Yeah, I got kicked out." I said nonchalantly as I threw my backpack onto the chair sitting across from his desk.

"It's been ten minutes!" He said incredulously.

"I know, and I also kind of, probably, ruined Dr. Layton's career, but that's beside the point." I stood in front of him with a grin on my face. "There's a familiar in my class."

He suddenly lost his disappointment and became interested. "Is there?"

I nodded happily. "Yes. And he invited me to their party." I held up the business card and Caulder plucked it from my hand.

He examined it and mumbled to himself, "This is too fast. Something doesn't add up."

"What do you mean it doesn't add up? So he saw me stand up to Layton and thought I would make a good snack for his buddies, big deal."

He shook his head in disproval. "This seems way too fast."

"Can't we just roll with this?" I practically begged. "I'm usually not lucky enough to get something on the first try, so why can't we take advantage of it?"

"Because it sounds suspicious." He eyed me and my slightly disappointed face before sighing. "We'll talk about this later."

"Later?"

"After class." He pocketed the card and walked around his desk, picking up his own messenger bag and mug.

"Caulder, come on!" I followed him as he left the room and began heading towards our lecture hall. "This could be our chance!"

He gave a quick turn and towered over me. "As of right now," He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "It's too dangerous. We don't know anything about them at this point. It would be a suicide mission going in there blind and you know it."

I gave a soft sigh of defeat. "I just-"

"I know," He backed off a little and put a hand on my shoulder. "But we have to be smart about this. We can't go in there guns loaded and expect to come out successful. We have to plan this."

A very childish pout mounted itself upon my face, to which Caulder only chuckled at. "Fine." I mumbled.


	11. Chapter 11

A few hours later I was staring at the door to my apartment. I was done with classes for the day and Caulder had sent me home until he finished his own. So there I was; staring at my plain white door with 'three-fifteen' painted in black at the top. I didn't want to go in. Not because of last night, but because the door was ajar. When I left last night the door was locked from the inside. Silently, I took a step towards the apartment and tried to peer inside the little sliver the door left open. No such luck, the place was dark.

Taking a deep breath, I nudged the door open and was met with a loud creak. Fabulous. Giving a slight groan, I kicked the door open all the way and was met with an image that would never leave my mind: Wade was sitting in his Deadpool costume, mask off, sitting on the couch watching television, surrounded by empty beer bottles. Even though it had only been about twelve hours, the stench of stale beer seemed to fill the entire apartment.

"Wade?" I asked gently to the man staring at reruns of the _Golden Girls_. He didn't look up at me. He just kept staring idly at the flashing picture. "Wade?" I tried again.

He was quiet for a long time before mumbling. "Where've you been?"

I finally stepped in and made my way through the labyrinth of bottles and ended up standing just to the side of him. "I was out." Why was I beating around the bush with him? Crossing my arms, I cleared my throat and asked, "What about you? Where've you been these past few weeks?"

Out of nowhere, Wade pulled out a full bottle of beer and took a long swig from it. "Out." His monosyllabic response brought out a bit of anger at him in me, even though that was exactly what I had done to him.

Feeling anger bubble out of me, I kicked over a pile of bottles, sending two into the wall and shattering them. When he didn't move I kicked another one and it too shattered. "How dare you?" I kicked more bottles. "You drop off the face of the Earth for two weeks and you expect me to accept 'out' as an answer!"

It was at this time that Wade did stand up and tower over me. "You think I didn't want to call? That I didn't want to talk to my best friend?" His voice was full of pain and depression and I knew that I over reacted.

"Then why didn't you?"

Without missing a beat, Wade avoided the question. "It doesn't matter why I didn't. I'm here now and I need you to do something."

"What?" I asked, irritated at his abruptness.

He pulled out one of his guns and handed it to me. "Would you kill me?"

My face was frozen, my hand barely keeping hold of the gun. "What?" I asked incredulously.

Very uncharacteristically of him, Wade seemed to want to cry. "Kill me."

I shook my head, my mouth hanging open in shock. "No. I could never."

Wade viciously grabbed me and lifted me up to his eye level. His grip on my arms was painful and tight, and his face was etched into a sneer, I was actually frightened. "Why not?" He growled, giving me a quick shake.

"B-b-because your m-my fr-frie-"

"No!" He yelled, throwing me across the room. I slammed into the wall and knocked a portrait of the Hawkins family off of it. He came at me as soon as I fell down the wall, picked me up again, and pinned me against it. "Friends help other friends, right?" He practically screamed at me.

"Ri-ght." I responded a little haggardly.

"And every time you've ever asked me to do something for you I've done it, no questions asked. Right?"

I nodded and began to unknowingly cry. "Right."

"So why is it," He began, looking at me with fury. "That when I ask you to do something you've done a million times, you can't seem to do it?" His voice cracked at the end.

"Why is it so important that you die?" My voice took an innocent tone and Wade's face softened slightly.

"I am sick of this life and the people in it. Now be a good friend and help me out."

I shook my head again and said defiantly, "No."

"Fine then." He dropped me and began heading for the door. "I'll find someone else."

"Wade!" I shouted after him with a pleading tone, but I dared not follow. If I knew anything about Wade, it was that he hated to be followed when he was angry.

However, my shout stopped him in his tracks. Grabbing something from his utility belt, he turned back to me, picked me up and shoved it into my chest. "We're done." He mumbled, staring me dead in the eye. He held the gaze for a minute before disappearing back through the door, the object falling into my waiting hands.

I was paralyzed for several minutes before I looked down at my hands and my heart broke. It was Wade's cell phone.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Andi? Are you even listening to me?" I was brought out of my reverie by Caulder's slightly agitated voice. I looked around and saw that I was back in his apartment. When did I get here? When did it get dark out?

"Sorry." We were sitting in the kitchen and he was holding the card Kyle gave me.

"It's okay," He reassured me. "You just need to pay attention right now." I nodded in agreement and he started planning again. "So, what are you going to do once you get inside the party?"

"I'm going to find Kyle, have him show me around and get a feel for the place. I'll leave before anything extreme happens, come get you, and we'll storm the place_ if_ we can get a hold of Hannibal." I spoke so disdainfully at the plan. I hated it. This waiting period didn't sit well with me; I just wasn't used to it.

"Good. Now that we know the plan we can call Hannibal and have him on stand-by." Caulder plucked the phone from the counter and made the call.

Seconds after, my phone began to ring. I answered, "Hawkins."

"Hey, Andi. It's Johnny." Uh oh. Why couldn't it have been anyone but Johnny Storm?

"Uh, hey Johnny. What can I do for you?"

He sounded like he had a smile on his face. "I just wanted to let you know that we got called into Vancouver for an 'alien attack' and it was a false alarm. We're right by Langara and I thought we could…you know…hang out?" I smiled very little. He was so cute when he tried to ask me out.

My blush set Caulder off and he nudged me in question. "Is that Wade?" He whispered after moving the receiver end of his phone away from his mouth.

I shook my head. "You know I would absolutely love to hang out with you-"

"Great!" He said a bit too enthusiastically. "When are you free?"

"Uh that really was-" I trailed off when I saw Caulder nodding at me to go with him. "Uh, Johnny? Do you feel like working tonight?"

I could hear him smirk on the other line. "What's the job?"

"Just a party. You know…usual college stuff." I eluded.

Johnny just laughed. "Nothing with you is 'usual'. Now come on, what do want me to do?"

A small playful pout etched itself on my face. "Be my bodyguard and make sure no nasty boy gets touchy with me?"

His line went silent for a moment before he said in complete seriousness. "I'm in."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

I met Johnny at the pier about two hours later. He had dressed like I told him: Black long sleeved shirt, dark wash jeans, and black shoes. I was dressed in a similar manner and leapt into his arms when we saw each other.

"Johnny!" I smiled and held onto him tightly.

He responded with an even tighter embrace. "Oh Andi," He said with a chuckle. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged, leaning back to get a good look at him while he kept his grip on me. "And why exactly is that _Mister_ Storm?"

He winced jokingly when I said that. "Ew, don't say that. That makes me feel old."

I gave him a small pout and cupped his face. "Aw, poor Charmander." I leaned over and barely touched my lips to his. "Sorry."

He gave the slightest of whimpers. "You're forgiven." He said quickly before jumping up a little and giving me a proper kiss. I was only a little surprised, mostly happy. It had been years since we had last kissed, and it made my heart jump when we finally did.

A throat being cleared made me jump back from Johnny and turn around in his arms. He, being ever the gentleman, didn't drop me. He however did turn us around so that I could see who it was. My smile fell quickly and I tapped his shoulder and he dropped me.

"Uh, hi Hannibal." I pulled my shirt down a little and tucked some hair back behind my ear.

Hannibal, however, was not looking at me. "Aren't you a little old for her?" His eyebrow twitched and his brown eyes bore into Johnny's blue ones.

Johnny's eyebrows shot up and his head tilted slightly in shock. He had no answer.

I folded my arms over my chest. "He is not! And that is none of your business." I shot back.

Hannibal gave a tiny, knowing smirk and put his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. "I'm just saying, it kind of looks like you're robbing the cradle there, sport."

I was about to retort, shooting daggers at Hannibal, when Caulder came out from behind Hannibal. "Andi! And this must be Johnny." He was all smiles and came over and shook Johnny's hand. "Don't mind him." He mumbled to us. "He's just upset that there's more testosterone in the house." Johnny tilted his head even further, even more shocked than before. "Hey! You do it too!"

Noticing his extreme discomfort, I stepped between them. "Okay, now that we've all met, it's about time we get to work. Right Hannibal?"

"I believe the dame is right, Caulder." Hannibal came up from behind the group and stepped between Caulder and me. He gave me a cold stare with a smile. "Why don't we leave Miss Daddy Complex alone and get to down to business. Shall we?" He gave a quick raise of his eyebrows and lead Caulder back towards the barge.

Johnny made for Hannibal before he even finished speaking, but I stood strong in front of him. "Let it go, Johnny." I whispered to him after they began walking away.

"But…" He gave a desperate look from me to Hannibal and back. "…that _asshole_ called us – called _you_-"

"I know." I cupped his face and gave him a small smile. "But he's going to help me get Virgil back…and I need you." The anger in his baby blue eyes dissipated into my chocolate brown ones. "Please don't leave me alone with him." I begged a little. "I will never hear the end of it."

Johnny gave a soft chuckle and reluctantly nodded. "Fine. But I'm not working with him."

"You're working with me." I smiled brightly at him and gave his face a light tap. "Now come on, we have a boy to find."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"This plan does not make sense." I said bluntly to Hannibal. "Why would we try to trick an entire building full of blood suckers who are probably smarter than us? I mean I'm all for going in there guns loaded, but to pretend to change into one of them to infiltrate their little hideout? It just seems like a really bad idea."

We were sitting in the living room, Johnny and I on the couch, Caulder perched on the armrest closest to me, and Hannibal standing in front of us. And judging by the way Hannibal tensed the muscles in his arms and a vein in his neck began to pop out, he was not happy with me.

"Well," He began with his voice stiff. "If you have a better plan, Andi." He said my name as if it dripped with venom. "Please, share."

I sat up a little straighter and said, "Honestly, the only thing I can think of to do is to let me go in, I'll find Kyle and have him take me aside, I threaten the crap out of him until he tells me who I need to go after."

Caulder immediately rebuked it. "No. That's too dangerous."

I scoffed and looked up at him. "Caulder…it's me. Why should I worry?"

"Because these fuckers outnumber you five hundred to one!" Hannibal yelled pushing Caulder out of the way and getting close to my face with a sneer. Johnny reacted first by getting up and pushing him back.

"Back off of her!" He yelled at Hannibal and stood in front of me protectively.

"Oh come on, _Johnny_." Hannibal shoved him back. "That is a bad idea and you know it! Don't let your girlfriend walk herself into a den full of people just waiting for a fresh piece of meat!"

"Guys!" I yelled, trying to break up their little spat.

"Andi is _not_ a piece of meat!"

"Then don't let her parade herself like one! I've had enough of girls throwing themselves into dangerous situations around here and I'm not about to have another anytime soon!"

Hannibal's statement shut Johnny up and stunned both Caulder and I. We all stood there for a moment and let Johnny digest what was screamed at him.

And then all of a sudden, "Daddy?"

"What?" "What is it Squirt?" Both Johnny and Hannibal replied to the small voice that had made itself present, respectively. Both men looked at each other in confusion and turned to the little girl who had appeared behind Caulder.

Anita was standing there in a pair of pink pajamas with a purple sleeping penguin on it that said, 'It's ice to relax'. "Daddy? Why are you yelling?"

Hannibal's demeanor immediately dispersed as he went over to the child. "I'm sorry, Squirt." He bent over and picked the little girl up, completely evading her question. "Come on, why don't you go back to bed, huh?"

"Who's that?" She asked, pointing towards Johnny.

Hannibal looked back at Johnny. "That's one of Andi's friends, Squirt."

Johnny just smiled at the little girl and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Johnny. What's your name?"

She smiled back and shook his hand with her small one. "I'm Anita. Anita Abigail King."

My eyes widened in fear when they shook hands and I stared at Johnny, hoping that his memory had not been restored.

"Anita, huh?" He tilted his head a little and smiled even more. "Well, that is a very pretty name."

"You can use it if you want." She squeaked suddenly, letting go of Johnny's hand.

"What do you mean?"

A tiny blush crept onto her face when she replied with, "Well if you and Andi get married and have kids, you can use my name!"

Johnny began to chuckle and I began blushing furiously, hiding my face in my hand and continuously praying he would not remember. This little girl was not helping the cause.

"Well," He said, taking a long look into her dark brown eyes. "We will have to think about it, but we will definitely consider it."

"I am so sorry, Hannibal." A long, wavy haired blonde girl a few inches taller than me stepped out from the kitchen and came up to our little group. "It turned my back to get her something to drink and she just ran here."

"It's alright, Zoe." He told her. "Here, tuck her in, okay?" He tried to hand her off to Zoe, but Anita just clung more to Hannibal. "Anita, come on now. It's past your bedtime."

"But Daddy, I don't want you to go out tonight." She dug her face into the crook of his shoulder.

"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere." He rubbed her back. Sighing, Hannibal started walking away back through the kitchen. "I promise I'm not leaving tonight." He mumbled to her as he left the room.

I sadly watched them leave, knowing that Hannibal was tied to this place, which he obviously hated, because he did not want to desert the three of them.

"Sorry about that." Zoe apologized to us. "It's just that Anita has nightmares sometimes about Hannibal being killed. It…It just freaks her out."

"It would freak anyone out." Johnny added. "It's okay."

I turned to Caulder. "So, where are we going?"

Caulder shook his head out of shock and was caught off guard at my question. "E-excuse me?"

"Where are we going tonight?"

"Oh, um…" He trailed off as he tried to remember. "A bar called 'Sam's Bar and Grill'."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement, "Thanks. We'll be back." And Johnny and I left the barge.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you sure you want to do this, Andi?" Johnny asked me as we spied on the front door of the bar from an alley across the street.

"Of course I want to do this, Johnny." I said, taking a look back at him. "They have Virgil and I will do anything to get him back. You should know that by now."

"I know." He gave me a quick squeeze on the shoulder. "That's what worries me."

"Well don't worry." I completely turned around to face him. "If I get too out of control, J'onn will sense it and knock me down to an appropriate notch."

Johnny raised an eyebrow in question. "J'onn?"

I nodded. "He's a Martian that's connected to my brain." That sounds crazy even for me

"A Martian?" I nodded again. Johnny shrugged and I turned back around. "Alright then. But, what if he doesn't sense you going overboard?"

I smirked a small amount. "Well you are just going to have to keep me in check then, aren't you?"

He, too, gave a small smile. "I guess so."

"Do you have your teeth?"

I heard some moving around behind me and then a slightly muffled, "Yes."

"Your tattoo?"

"On my arm." He reassured me.

"Good, you're going to need them." Squinting at the entrance to the bar, I saw our signal to go. "I see Kyle. He just came out of the bar."

"Go get him, Sweet cheeks." Johnny gave me a quick rap on the butt and pushed me forward.

"That is _not_ keeping me in check!" I whispered back to him, to which he just chuckled at.

I straightened my black low cut long sleeved shirt, and made my way towards the bar in a pair of well fitting dark blue jeans, held up by my new Green Lantern belt buckle, and tall high heeled black boots. I had planned to handle this situation in a similar manner that I did when I first tracked down Gambit. The only main difference is that this time I was weaponless…no, seriously, I had nothing. Yes, it _is_ a stupid idea to go into a bar full of vampires without any protection whatsoever.

"Kyle!" I bounded over to him and he turned and smiled at me.

"Hey Andi! You ready to have some fun?" I nodded and he grabbed my hand and began leading me inside. Kyle nodded at the large, pale bouncer, and he waived us in.

The bar was dark with dim florescent lights being the only source of illumination. It looked like any other bar: dark stained tables and chairs, a long dark stained bar with a wall full of liquor behind it, a jukebox in a corner, and patrons who were whispering to each other and chuckling to themselves, as well as customers sitting alone looking either very broody or very sketchy. Either way, it looked like a normal bar at first glance.

"Where are we going to sit?" I began looking around like a bimbo and Kyle just smiled and pulled me closer to him.

"The party is downstairs." He whispered into my ear. I threw him a coy smile and he led me to a closed black door. I gave a quick glance behind us to make sure Johnny had followed and Kyle opened the door and let me go in first. Inside was a medium sized stock room, as well as another door, this one with a sign saying 'No Humans Allowed'.

"'No humans allowed'?" I asked him once the door behind us closed.

"It's the owner's joke." He tried to explain. "He doesn't think of the customers as 'humans'." He was about to turn the door knob when he looked back at me and came very close to my face, causing my breathing to hitch. "Are you ready for the adventure of your life?" He whispered against my lips.

No. "Yes." I whispered back.

Kyle smiled and opened the door.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Johnny watched Kyle and I meet up just to the left of the building through a jealous lens. "Watch yourself, pal." He mumbled to himself as he saw the boy take my hand and lead me into the bar. "I am _so_ going to kill you." He waited thirty seconds before following us.

The bouncer halted Johnny at the door and grunted. "Show 'em."

Johnny opened his mouth, modeled his fangs, and rolled up his sleeve to display his tattoo: it was a curvy 'L' with a small circle surrounded by thin rectangles. The bouncer nodded at him and Johnny stalked inside; he came in just in time to see me take a look towards him and be led out of the main room. He dodged the eyes of the patrons who had decided to look up while this stranger made his way through the dim tavern. Johnny slowly approached the back door and gave us a ten second head start before opening the door and trailing us.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

It was a…party? Rave? It was a large bunch of people dancing around badly to loud techno music. I could literally feel the strong waves of bass hit me as Kyle continued to lead me through the crowd. There was something different about these people. I mean, I knew they were vampires, but something was off about them. They kept staring at me as I passed them. And they all had the same pale grey-blue eyes. All of a sudden, Kyle began pulling me more furiously.

"Kyle!" I exclaimed, barely pulling back to show him that I was 'too weak' to stop him. "Where are we going?"

He didn't answer. He just kept pulling me.

Okay, this was getting scary. "Let go of me!" I screeched, this time actually pulling back. It slowed him very little, and all of a sudden I felt myself being thrown forward. I was forced into a slightly lowered semi circle with seven people sitting on circular couches, the one in the middle smiling when I looked up at him. He was tall and blond, with extremely pale eyes. He had a handsome and innocent face even though it was painfully obvious that he was anything but innocent.

"Hello there." The man said with a large smile one. "While I know your name, Andrea-"

"Don't call me that." I mumbled angrily. I had been beaten and I was not happy about it.

Despite how I felt the man just kept talking, "You have absolutely no idea who I am, not to mention you are very pretty. So," He stood up from the couch and lowered his hand for me to grab. Being confused on where he was going, I took his hand and he helped me up. "Let's start over. Hello darling, I'm Novak Haben. And, to be perfectly honest, you are pretty much screwed from here on in."

Oh shit.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The moment Johnny entered the party room he swore. "Shit! I'm never going to find her in here!" He stared out at the crowd of bouncing people. After taking the mass of people in, he took a deep breath and began moving forward. He had to dodge between the bodies, and since the music was so loud, he forwent the apologizing he normally would have done whenever he brushed up against someone.

"Let go of me!" He heard faintly above the music. Johnny's head twisted in the direction of my voice and he began moving quickly toward it.

He physically pushed people out of the way until he got to the outer circle of people standing in front of a cleared space that was lowered slightly more than the rest of the floor. Through the spaces between people he was able to see me on the floor and a man crouching in front of me. Johnny knew that if he tried to intervene now he would create trouble, even though he was pretty sure everything was already jeopardized, so he stood behind a few people and kept an eye towards the man and myself.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"So," Novak began as he sat back down on the sofa, all the while keeping eye contact with me. "Do you have anything to say, _dearest Andrea_?"

"I'm looking for someone." I mumbled angrily, folding my arms over my chest.

"And who would that be?" Novak folded his hands in his lap and let a small, arrogant smirk curl itself onto his face.

"A boy about five seven, African American, wears his hair in short dreadlocks; answers to the name 'Virgil'. Seen him?" I glared at this evil, thieving man.

"You know, I think we have." He turned to the scantily clad woman next to him. "Would you go fetch him?" The woman gave him an opened mouth kiss on his mouth before getting up and leaving the lowered area. He turned back to me. "It'll only take a minute." He reassured me with a smile. I continued to glare at him and Novak continued to sit there as if he had no care in the world.

Sure enough, not a minute later the woman came back, dragging a bound and gagged person behind her. She tossed the person onto Novak's lap like they were a rag doll, and he just smiled and propped the person up. It was Virgil.

"Is this him?" Novak asked like a dumb child.

I curled my hands into fists and my muscles tensed. They were treating him like he was nothing. "Yes." My voice was shaking with rage. I extended my hand towards him. "Hand him over."

"Ah ah ah." That arrogant smirk resurfaced. "We don't just give people things for free." He gave a wider smirk, finally revealing two elongated canine teeth.

"What do you want?"

His smile just grew. "You."

I didn't think twice before I said, "Done." Novak tossed Virgil's body over to me and I turned around, instantly seeing Johnny's face peeking out from behind a few people. Once he saw Virgil, he came closer and I tossed the limp figure into Johnny's arms.

In a second, Novak came up behind me, grabbed my shoulders and pulled me closer to his group. Johnny started to move towards me as well, but I quickly raised my arm and shot a gust of wind out at the two of them. Just before the blast hit them, Novak swooped down and latched himself onto my neck, letting his sharp teeth penetrate my skin. The pain was quick, and it faded just as swiftly as it began, leaving a continual throbbing as he started to suck the erupting blood he had been the cause of.

"ANDI!" Johnny shouted, but to no avail as he and Virgil disappeared a mere second later.

Not too long after Novak bit me, I felt a weakness overcome me, and my legs had begun to shake and crumble beneath me. Novak lowered me to the floor, finally letting me out of the grip his mouth had. I still felt blood pouring out of the two punctures he had left, but my mind was more focused on the fact that my vision was quickly going black and the faded pound of the music which kept becoming fainter and fainter.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"ANDI!" Johnny continued to shout as he reappeared in front of Caulder and Hannibal at the barge.

"What's going on?" Caulder immediately asked as Johnny dropped Virgil onto the nearest piece of furniture and began running for the entrance of the compound.

"They've got Andi!" He shouted back.

Hannibal headed him off and stood in front of him just as he was about to reach the door. "Johnny you can't go after them." He said in a calm and commanding manner.

"Yes I can!" Johnny grabbed Hannibal by the collar of his shirt and shoved him out of the way. Hannibal instantly recovered, clutched the back of Johnny's shirt and threw him away from the door, sending him to the floor. Caulder grabbed Johnny's arms once he hit the ground and held him down.

"You do realize they will kill you if you go back there, right?" Hannibal tried to talk him out of it.

"I don't care! I've got to get her back!"

"Johnny, what good are you going to be to her if you end up dead because of some reckless move?" Johnny began to struggle against Caulder's grip, so Hannibal did the only thing he could think of to really get his attention: he slapped him across the face. The sharp sting Hannibal gave him was enough; Johnny had calmed down. "You cannot go in there blindly. Not now. They've seen you and they will be looking for you." Hannibal paused and glanced up at Caulder, searching for something, any words of wisdom really.

"Johnny," Caulder began, loosening his grip very slightly as he got calmer and calmer. "The best way to help Andi now is to stop and make a plan. Not a half-assed one like you two had before you left tonight, a well formulated plan that has been thought through very carefully. Do you understand?" Johnny nodded reluctantly and Caulder let him go.

"So what do we do?" Johnny asked with his muscles slightly clenched, making his anger known in his voice.

Caulder now looked at Hannibal. He was always the one to make the plans, Caulder just provided the equipment. Hannibal took the opportunity to throw his arm around Johnny's shoulders and began to steer him towards the lower section of the barge which held the training rooms.

"Do you know how to shoot?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_Justice League Watch Tower, orbiting currently above Miami, Florida_

J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, was a larger, three hundred pound alien from Mars made up of all muscle. He had an intimidating stature being over six and a half feet tall, and his sharp face and deep brow, along with menacing red eyes only added to his scary nature. But despite his outside appearance, J'onn J'onzz was a nice man, one who cared deeply about his friends and colleagues in the Justice League and would do just about anything for them.

A little over two years ago, J'onn J'onzz linked his and Andi's brains together so that he would be able to keep in contact with her while she was battling the Silver Lanterns in Central Park. Ever since then they have been able to feel each other's emotions and sense when the other is in trouble. This time was no different.

J'onn was relaxing in the cafeteria of the Watch Tower that evening after what seemed like an endless day. Call after call came in from people in trouble and J'onn sent hero after hero down to take care of it. Knowing that these quiet moments were rare, J'onn closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

His serenity was interrupted moments later. "J'onn?" The Martian opened his eyes to see his closest friend. Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne, is the biological half brother of Andi Hojem. His father Thomas donated his DNA to Andi's parents so that they could have a baby. "Mind if I sit here?"

J'onn shook his head. "Not at all." Bruce took the seat across from J'onn and sipped the coffee he held in his hand. "How are you doing?"

Bruce shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I guess. Ever since Andi left for college it's been kind of lonely around the manor. I mean, I'm happy that she's branching out and keeping out of trouble…especially keeping out of trouble," J'onn chuckled. "But, uh…I miss the company, you know?"

"Is that why you've been coming up here more than usual lately?" J'onn had a hidden smirk and let some laughter escape through his eyes.

"Perhaps." He answered almost sheepishly.

"Don't worry." J'onn lowered his voice into an almost whisper. "I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks." Bruce took another sip. "What about you? How are you handling Andi's departure?"

"Not as bad as others. You have to understand, her and I are mentally connected so it feels like she's right next to me all of the time."

Bruce gave a sad scoff as he took another sip. "That must suck sometimes."

J'onn shrugged his shoulders. "It's not that bad. While yes, on occasion, her thoughts make me a little uncomfortable, it is nice to have her there. Like you said, it's about the company."

All of a sudden, J'onn felt a faint sense of panic coming from Andi's end, but it was so little that J'onn dismissed it. Bruce was speaking to J'onn, but the Martian had a terrible time concentrating because that sense of panic was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. And then, J'onn felt a stabbing at his neck, so much so that he cried out and grabbed the side of his neck in pain.

J'onn scrambled out of his chair to try and escape the agony, but he ended up falling to the floor and rolling onto his back. Bruce was down by his side in an instant.

"J'onn? J'onn, what's going on?"

"I…I d-don't know." He fought to get out. Suddenly the ache was gone and J'onn's entire body relaxed at once. "Bruce?" J'onn asked weakly, his vision fading fast.

"What is it?"

"She's… …scared." J'onn trailed off as he lost consciousness.

"J'onn? J'onn wake up!"


	13. Chapter 13

"Is Virgil going to be okay?" Johnny asked Caulder later that night as he sat in the infirmary with Virgil on the one bed.

Caulder took out a vial of blue liquid from a miniature refrigerator on the other side of the room. "After a dose of this, hopefully he will be."

"Hopefully?" Johnny questioned with an alarmed tone. "What do you mean 'hopefully'?"

"This is just a standard cure for the…the 'vampire flu'." He went over to one of the many drawers of the cabinets in the room and pulled out a syringe. "The only problem is that some things get 'deleted' while others might not."

"What do you mean 'some things might not get deleted'? Andi will literally kill me if something bad happens to him while she's gone." Johnny was becoming hysterical.

"Look, it's not that bad, okay? Virgil will be perfectly fine if not everything gets deleted."

"He will?"

Caulder nodded and filled the syringe with the blue liquid. "Yes, absolutely." I hope so, he thought. He went over to Virgil, rolled up his long sleeved shirt and placed the needle in the crook of his arm and was about to inject the cure when Johnny stopped him.

"Wait!" Johnny nearly jumped out of his chair. "How do you know this is going to work? What if it just makes it worse? Not…not that you can really get any worse when you're already dead but…how do you know?"

Caulder took the needle away from Virgil, placed it on the roll away table next to the bed, and pulled up an extra chair across from Johnny. "Johnny, I know that we just met, and that I'm just Andi's teacher to you, but you have to understand that _this_ is my life. I created this cure, and have been lucky enough to only use it once."

"Then how do you know it's going to work?"

"I know because many years ago I created a sub-strain of it alongside the late Dr. Sommerfield. That spread and killed the vampires in the immediate area. Unfortunately, that did not last for long and so we are back at square one." Caulder got up and went back over to Virgil.

"It's going to kill him, isn't it?" Johnny asked, dreading the answer.

Caulder gave a slight nod. "In a way, yes." He picked up the syringe and turned back towards Johnny. "I don't have to do it if you don't want me to."

Johnny took a minute to think before he stood up and made his way for the door. "I'm not going to stop you."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"_Hey, Bruce?" I asked the much older boy sitting in front of me as we played with the tiny toy dogs Bruce had given me for my last birthday._

"_Yes, Andi?" He answered, looking up from the small Dalmatian statue in his hand._

"_I'm going to have to go away, aren't I?" Even though Bruce was several years older than me, and I was a mere six years old, he still liked to hang out and play with me. And I loved spending time with him._

_He shook his head. "I'm not letting you go. You're going to stay here, with me and Alfred." He got up from his spot and came and sat down next to me. "This is where you belong."_

"_That mean lady doesn't think so."A lone tear trailed down my cheek and Bruce wiped it away._

"_Well that lady is stupid. She obviously doesn't know what's best for you."He pulled me into his arms and held me tight while I returned the embrace._

_We held each other for a long time before I asked. "What if I need you? What if something happens with my powers?" My tiny voice broke at the end._

"_Hey, listen to me." He pulled away from our embrace and grabbed my face with his hands. "I will always be there for you, even if I'm not there. If you get into trouble…you can just call the house…um…you can ask for…uh…Hayes. Yeah, Hayes. And I'll come get you. I'll come save you."_

_I nodded and put a small smile on my face. "And, I can give you my new number, and you can call and ask for…uh…Gypsy! And then I can for you!"_

_Bruce was tearing up now, but he nodded anyway. "That sounds perfect." He enveloped me again; only this time was tighter than before. "You're my best friend." I heard him whisper in my ear._

"_You're my only friend." I whispered back._

"_Bruce! Andrea! It's time for dinner!" We heard Alfred call from the kitchen._

_Bruce once again pulled away from me. "Come on, we better go."_

_We both stood up and began making our way to the kitchen. "Wait." I held his arm just before we passed through the door._

"_What's the matter?"_

"_Would you really save me if I was in trouble?"_

_He gave me a small smile. "In a heartbeat."_

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_Smack_. _Smack_. _Smack_.

I groaned and felt my head get thrown to the right with another _smack_. I slowly opened my eyes half way and was met with burred colors mixing together.

All of a sudden, I heard, "Hello Darling!"

I groaned again and my vision became clearer and saw the smug, yellow haired Novak Haben smiling down at me. I tried to open my mouth and speak, but all that came out was an indescribable moan.

"Yes, yes, I know, you're upset." He stepped closer to me. "But you have to understand, Darling, we've been looking for you for a long time now."

I groaned and he just kept smiling. "I wouldn't try to speak if I were you. See, we've given you some strong tranquilizers and it's highly unlikely that you will be moving anything for a while."

My body began shaking in anger, or at least, I thought it was. I took a breath, opened my eyes and glared at him. My irises suddenly shifted from brown to a radiant green and I growled. "You obviously haven't done your research. My body digests medication like it's nothing."

His smile faded and his head tilted slightly and a needle pierced the skin in my neck and a liquid was injected. "We'll keep that in mind."

And everything went black once again.

"Mr. Haben?" The man who injected me called to his boss. "What are we doing about her?"

He looked at my still face and grabbed my jaw to look at both sides of my neck. "Bleed her. Just a sample. Then take it to Dr. Verne."

The man nodded and left the room.

Novak stared at me for a very long time but said nothing. He circled me once or twice before finally saying, "I've heard stories about you." He whispered as if I was listening. "I've seen your work. You are a bitch on the battlefield, and yet you were so easy to take. You might be strong, but are most definitely weak." Novak then leaned over and whispered into my ear. "Prove yourself stronger or you will die here. And it would be a shame to kill such an enticing creation."

I jerked up, this time my entire eye glowed green and my hair grew by many inches. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed at him, pulling at the shackled that were holding me down to an angled table.

"Are you sure you want me to stay away?" He once again circled me and came to my front. "Because I have knowledge about you that no one else does."

"I can think of at least one person." I spat at him.

"You must be talking about Lucius. Lucius Fox? Oh yes, _him_. Let me tell you something, darling, I have more resources into Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries than Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark put together. I know things about them that would scare you shitless."

I just gave him a one sided smirk. "Try me."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Johnny held the gun up and stared down the scope. He lined up with the target and pulled the trigger. It hit the silhouette target in the right breast. "Damn it." He mumbled to himself.

"Close." A voice came from behind him. Johnny turned around and found a tall girl with wavy blond hair standing behind him. "While you did hit the chest, it wasn't a killing shot."

"I know." Johnny gave another look at the target. "It's Zoe, right?" The girl nodded. "So what are you doing down here?"

"I heard about what happened." He just nodded. "And I know you're like, really mad, but I do have one question." She paused for him to respond.

"Which is?"

She came closer to him. "Have you ever killed anyone before?"

He shook his head. "No."

Zoe just nodded. "Have you ever…thought about it?"

Again, Johnny shook his head. "No."

"Then how do you know you can do it?"

Without hesitating, Johnny replied, "Because I would do anything for Andi. Even take a life."

Zoe nodded again. "Wow. You must really love her."

That is when Johnny hesitated. "Uh-"

"Wait!" Zoe said incredulously as she moved closer to him. "You don't love her?"

"You see…it's complicated." Johnny rubbed the back of his neck. "Andi and I have a very…messed up relationship."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Explain."

He let out a large sigh and put the gun down. "Uh…I'm not really sure where to begin."

"How about, when you two first started seeing each other?" She suggested kindly.

Johnny sighed again and began walking out of the shooting range. "Well, let's just say I shouldn't be talking about it in front of a police officer."

Zoe shook her head. "I don't follow."

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Johnny suddenly got very upset and turned on her with a raised tone of voice. "Andi was underage when I met her and that didn't stop us! Okay? We rushed through our relationship and had sex! But let me tell you something, Blondie! Not a day goes by where I don't wish I could go back and do it all over, because I'd do it over right! I have always loved her, from the moment I first saw her I loved her! And I can't stand the thought that I let her get away from me and didn't even keep in contact for two and a half years! And I hate that I let her get taken! I let her send me away once she handed Virgil off! And I hate-"

"Johnny!" Caulder cut him off. "What are you doing?"

"I'm yelling! _That's_ what I'm doing!" Johnny switched targets.

Caulder did his best to stay calm. "But why are you yelling?"

"Because I can't seem to do anything right anymore! I can't call the girl I love every once in a while! I can't keep her safe when she most desperately needs me! I can't even shoot a stupid _fucking_ cardboard cutout in the heart!" Johnny went up to Caulder and grabbed his shoulders. "What is wrong with me? Why can't I do these things? I used to be able to do them! Why can't I do them anymore?"

Johnny was suddenly tapped on the shoulder so he turned around and _smack_! Zoe slapped him across the face.

"Get your head together!" She yelled back. "'What is wrong with me', you ask! Well I'll tell you what's wrong! You need to stop thinking that you've completely failed her! Because honestly, that's what you're saying! So stop all this bullshit because from the time that I have actually spent with Andi, she has said nothing but nice things about you! I've only really been with her for a few hours, and she could do nothing but rave about how amazing of a person you are, so shut the fuck up," It was at this time that Zoe had backed up to the table that Johnny had placed his gun and picked it up. "Aim," She pointed the gun towards the target without even looking. "And fire." She pulled the trigger and a perfect shot made its way through the fake person's heart.


	14. Chapter 14

I hate this feeling. I can't move. I can barely breathe. I can't sleep. I can't heal myself. I can't teleport out. I can't even lift the leaves off of my arms. Thinking takes much more effort than it used to. It's been three days since I was first brought here. So far, I've been actually bolted to this table, and a permanent IV has been placed in my arm to keep me from doing anything. It's been two days since I've seen anyone. I hate feeling alone in a place where I am clearly not wanted for my company.

"Are you okay?" I hear a soft voice echo in my head. It was J'onn.

"I'm…hurting…J'onn." I thought back to him. "How…bad…are…you?"

"I'm getting there. My body is adapting to the effects of the medication. I am much more functional now than I was a few days ago." His voice paused for a minute before he said, "Where are you, Andrea? I cannot seem to find your location."

"I…don't…know…where…I…am."

J'onn's voice disappeared for much longer this time. "Does anyone know?"

"Not…sure."

All of a sudden, the door to my room opened. "Darling! You are looking extra pale today." Novak came into the room with a large smile on his face.

I said nothing.

"Oh, come now." He stood next to me and began petting my head. "Don't be upset. I'm doing this to help everyone. And then you and I are going to be heroes."

I said nothing.

Novak grabbed my chin and turned my face towards him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He yelled.

I said nothing.

Novak glared at me without saying anything. I blankly started back. He leaned over even more and whispered in my ear. "What are you going to do once this is all over? You'll be one of us. And if you go home…Well, let's just say you'll _really_ become one of us."

I said nothing, even though what he said sent a shiver down my spine.

There was a sudden vibration in the right pocket of my jeans, and the song _I Just Wanna Live_ by Good Charlotte began playing. I wanted to shut my eyes and get away. I had taken Wade's cell phone with me that night. I had forgotten to turn off the ringer. And now I was dead. He's going to think that I gave him away, that someone's coming after me. He's actually going to kill me.

Novak pulled the phone from my pocket and hit the 'answer' button. "Hello?"

There was a pause before a response came. "Who is this?"

Novak had a sly grin on his face as he turned to me. "You first."

Another short pause. "Wade Wilson."

"Novak Haben."

"Where did you get this phone, Novak Haben?"

Novak just chuckled. "From my new girlfriend. And what business do you have with her?"

"I'm sorry, this is a personal call. I would like to speak to her directly, please."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but she's…indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message?" The smile on his face never left. In fact, it got even wider.

"Just let her know that Old Wadiepoo is missing her at home. Tell her I'm sorry that I yelled, and I've cleaned up my mess."

Novak's smile faded just the slightest bit, as if he was unsure whether or not Wade was playing him or if he was just naïve. "I'll make sure to tell her that. Anything else?"

Wade let out a chuckle. "Tell her I'm on my way." And the line dropped.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Wade Wilson was staring at the empty apartment he left behind. His mountain of beer bottles was still there, and the stench was slowly dissipating, thanks to an open window and a fan turned on.

"Andi?" Wade called from the doorway.

There was no answer.

He stepped into the apartment and began picking up his bottles. "Andi, you home?" He asked. "Virgil?"

There was no answer.

Slightly miffed at the two absent residents, Wade continued to pick up the empty glasses and proceeded to take them to the kitchen sink to rinse them out. He repeated this process until all of the bottles were cleaned and in the recycling bin before he sat down on the couch and rested.

"Where could they possibly be?" Wade said to himself.

'You know,' the white personality began. 'They could be trying to avoid you.'

'Andi would never do that.' The yellow personality refuted. 'She loves us, and she would be here in an instant if she knew we were here.'

"Why don't we call her?" Wade suggested, pulling out a throw away phone he picked up in his travels. He was about to dial her cell phone number, when he stopped himself. "She won't answer if she doesn't know the number.

'But she will answer our phone.' The white personality said. 'She knows we don't have a definite number, so any one that pops up she'll think is us.'

"You see!" Wade was finally excited as he punched in his own cell phone number. "Once we work together, we're actually one pretty smart person."

The phone rang, and rang, and rang.

"Hello?" Wade's eyebrows knitted together once he heard the male voice on the other end.

He paused for a second, put the phone on speaker, and took out a GPS device from his tool belt. "Who is this?"

"You first."

Wade took out another wire and plugged one end into the phone and the other into the GPS device. "Wade Wilson." He said with a stern tone.

"Novak Haben."

"Where did you get this phone, Novak Haben?" Wade typed in a code on the GPS device and began tracking the call.

The man on the other end chucked. "From my new girlfriend. And what business do you have with her?"

If Wade didn't like this man before, he sure as hell didn't like him now. "I'm sorry, this is a personal call. I would like to speak to her directly, please." He spat out venom with every syllable.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you," Novak began. "But she's…indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Wade wanted to strangle this man right then and there. But he kept his voice calm, willing the GPS to locate the phone's signal faster. "Just let her know that Old Wadiepoo is missing her at home. Tell her I'm sorry that I yelled, and I've cleaned up my mess."

There was a silence on the other end, and Wade almost believed that Novak had hung up. "I'll make sure to tell her that. Anything else?"

A tiny target appeared in the middle of Vancouver, Canada, and Wade let out a chuckle. "Tell her I'm on my way." And he hung up the phone.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Ouch. Novak was mad at me. Rather, he was mad at Wade, but I was the closest being to him, so I was on the receiving end of his anger. I now had cuts all over my body, a black eye, and bruises scattered everywhere. I will never take my healing for granted ever again. I was in so much pain, and I did not even have the ability to express it.

"Are you okay, Andrea?" J'onn's voice came back.

"…No…" I thought back.

"We're still working on your location."

I wanted to scream and tell him that Wade knew. "…Wade…" I was cut off by the opening of the door to my room.

A thin, dark skinned woman of medium height with long braids in her hair came in. She was dressed in a tight blue low-cut shirt and dark wash skinny jeans. She came in with a tray and a nervous look.

"You-you're not going to hurt me, a-are you?"

Silly girl, I can't even move, how am I supposed to hurt you?

The woman inched closer to me. "Novak says that you're dangerous. You don't look like it, though."

She has obviously never heard of me before. Just do what you came to do and leave me alone.

She came even closer and stared me right in the face. "You know, I can see why he picked you. You're very pretty. Not as pretty as some of the girls that usually come through here, but you're not ugly."

Thanks?

I gave her as skeptical a look as I could in my current condition. Apparently it did not faze her. It probably did not even look like anything.

"I was told to come in here and take another blood sample." The woman took a syringe from the tray. She then went and stood in front of me at an odd angle, one that wouldn't give her sufficient positioning to draw blood.

What was she up to?

"I've heard of you." She said under her breath as she made it look like she was taking blood from my upper arm, but she took from her own wrist instead. "Word around the tower is that you can escape anytime you want."

Who is this chick?

"Why haven't you done it yet? You obviously know how shitty this place is. Look at you! You're a mess. Why don't you leave?"

Oh jeepers. I was kind of hoping she wasn't stupid.

There was a shuffle from outside the door and that spooked her. "I have to go. I'll be back though." She took the syringe out of her wrist and put it back on her tray before she left.

So…what just happened?

"Who was that?" J'onn's voice was back in my head.

"I…have…no…idea."

Just then, another person came into the room with a bag of clear liquid. The man switched out the clear, almost liquid-less bag that was already hooked up with the full bag he had and then left.

I felt a rushing of fresh liquid run through the IV in my arm. "J'onn… …J'onn…" I had to tell him before I black out again, I can't let this opportunity go to waste and be stuck here even longer.

"I know, I feel it too."

"Wade… …he… …. …called… … ….he… …knows…" And then everything went dark.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"You're getting better." Hannibal said to Johnny that night. Hannibal, Johnny, Zoe, Anita, and Caulder were all sitting down together and eating dinner. It was just a pizza and breadsticks that they had ordered from a local pizzeria, but it was the fact that they were all together that mattered.

"Thanks." Johnny mumbled.

"Daddy, can you help me?" Anita asked as she tried to cut up her pizza.

"Sure thing, Squirt." She handed her plate over to him and he began cutting it for her. "You know," Hannibal started up again with Johnny. "Being a good shot is nothing to be ashamed about…especially with a girlfriend like yours."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "I'm just not warmed up to the idea of using a gun."

"Well hand to hand is good," Caulder stepped in. "But being able to use a gun comfortably is essential when dealing with vampires."

"Can't I just burn them?" He asked, not exactly happy with life at the moment.

That shocked the group. "What?" Hannibal asked.

"Burn them." Johnny was a little confused.

It took a minute for someone else to step in. "Well," It was Zoe this time. "We could set wherever it is on fire, but that would bring in a lot of unwanted attention, and there could be some prisoners trapped that we didn't know about-"

Johnny shook his head and interrupted her. "No, no, I'm not talking about setting the building on fire. I'm…" He trailed off when he saw that everyone was just staring at him. "Did Andi not tell you?"

"Apparently not." Hannibal said, finally handing Anita her plate back with everything cut up.

Johnny sighed. "Okay." He stood up from the table and walked a few feet away from the table. "It's going to get a little hot in here." He warned. "Flame on!"

His entire body encased in flame and Caulder mentally slapped himself. "You're Johnny Storm, from the Fantastic Four."

"Kind of."

There was a few seconds of silence before Johnny turned off his flames. He cleared his throat before awkwardly sitting back down at the table.

"Well," Hannibal began, still trying to process the straight-from-a-science-fiction-novel-power he just saw. "That certainly brings something new to the table."

"Hey now," A mysterious voice said from the living room. Everyone turned to see a tall, muscular, masked man in a black and red spandex body suit strapped with numerous weapons step into the kitchen. "Don't forget about me."

In a second, Zoe had leapt out of her chair and ripped a handgun that was taped under the table; she had it pointed at the man's head. "And just who the hell are you?"

The man pulled off his mask and gave a smug grin. "The name is Wade Wilson. You're a little spitfire aren't you?"

"Back off, Wade." Hannibal growled at him.

"Oh, come on, Hannibal. I'm just playing." He turned to the glaring man. "So, question: do you happen to know where Little Orphan Andi is?"

Everyone stared at him in silence. He looked about at all of the faces, and stopped to stare at Johnny's face for a second longer than everyone else's. There was something about him that just didn't sit right; like he was wrong.

"No?" Wade questioned. "Hm, interesting." He mused to himself as he fumbled through the pouches on his belt until he found the GPS. "Because I do."


	15. Chapter 15

That girl had come back a few times. She kept asking me silly questions about why I had yet to escape. I really wish I could have told her that I would have left if I could have, maybe then she would shut up about being 'disappointed' in me. Screw her! Why should I care what someone thinks of me when they don't even know how I'm really feeling, what I'm really thinking?

I haven't seen Novak lately. He must still be mad at Wade for besting him, or at least giving off the illusion of it. I have no idea whether or not Wade meant what he said. He could have just been lying to make Novak mad, and make him slip up.

"Darling! I've decided to forgive you!" Novak interrupted as he stormed into the room.

Thanks?

He came over and laid his freezing body on the table, spooning next to me. "Now, I know we've had a hiccup with that phone call from your friend Wade, but I am ready to forgive you, so long as you never speak to him again, of course."

I can't even speak out loud, moron.

"I know, I know, it may hurt to _gut_ him out of your life, but I'm sure that once you get used to the idea of us spending the rest of eternity together, you will never think about… 'Wadiepoo' ever again."

Even drugged and extremely desperate I would never consider that option.

The door to the room opened and the dark skinned woman stepped back in. "Mr. Haben? Agent Werner is here to see you."

"Splendid!" Novak leapt off of my table and bounded over to the other woman. "You did offer him coffee, didn't you?"

"Uh, um…" The woman stumbled and bowed her head.

Novak's voice grew colder. "You didn't offer Agent Werner coffee? Do you know how barbaric that makes me look?"

"Ah-"

"Don't speak." Novak growled into her face. "Just stay here." She moved to the side and Novak left the room. "I'll only be a minute, Darling!"

The moment he left the room the woman came over to my side and stood in front of the camera fixated on me. She took the needle out of my arm. "You have to leave." She whispered.

With medication no longer being pumped into me, I began feeling stronger, but nowhere near strong enough to speak yet.

"I mean it! Novak has something planned, that's why Agent Werner is here." She sounded genuinely frightened. Whatever he had planned couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Mm…nhi…lien…" I tried to say. I was not successful. So, instead, I tried moving my body, starting with my legs. I was also not successful.

"Whoa, let your body heal for a second. It's got to catch up with a week's worth of slothfulness." She chuckled a little. She's joking? Really?

"_Dè_…_an_…_t-t-ainm_…_a_…_th-tha_…_oir-oirbh_." I spat out after a while of careful thinking and dictation. Wait, was that Gaelic? Oh come on! I thought I was over speaking it at random times.

The woman was thoroughly confused. "What?"

Okay, come on. What were you trying to say? "…N-name. Y-your name?"

"Jasmine."

A second later, I sat up and let my hand out towards her. "It's nice to meet you."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Johnny was back down at the shooting range. The rifle was raised and careful aim was taken. He took a deep breath in, let it out, and pulled the trigger. The bullet went into the target just to the right of the heart.

"Damn." Johnny whispered to himself as he dropped the rifle from his shoulder.

"You've almost got it." Wade's voice came from a shadowed corner behind Johnny.

Johnny turned around. "Almost isn't good enough."

"It is if you shoot them enough times." Wade came out of the darkness and began walking towards him, still wearing his red and black uniform.

"And you know that from experience, do you?" Johnny sounded a little bitter, but that didn't really faze Wade.

"Actually, I do." Wade stood in front of Johnny and stared directly into his eyes. "Johnny, I'm a mercenary. Accept it."

"I don't have to like it."

Wade nodded along. "You're right, you don't." Johnny turned away from Wade and lifted the gun back up. "You know Andi's one too, right? Well, at least she was one."

Johnny froze for a moment before dropping the gun and coming back bitter. "Andi is _not_ a mercenary."

Oh dear, the white persona said.

Now Wade, the yellow persona stepped in, this isn't like a little kid, okay? You can't just tell him that Santa Claus doesn't exist. This is _Andi's boyfriend_. If you ruin the image he has of her, SHE WILL KILL YOU!

"Before this little incident," Wade started, trying to break it to him gently. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

"Look, I don't know-" Johnny huffed. He was pretty tired of people knowing things he doesn't know, people not knowing things, and Wade was just annoying.

"Think." Wade commanded.

Johnny gave a heavy sigh and turned away for a second to think. "I don't know, a little over a year ago? I gave her a call after she was on the news for something…oh, that mall attack, with the giant stone guy."

Oh dear, Wade repeated his white persona's words. "Johnny, I don't know if you remember, but I was there with her. That guy's name was Lance and he was Andi's friend when she was a kid. Like you and I, he had powers; and randomly, he would have fits and turn into that giant stone thing filled with uncontrollable anger… …kind of like the Hulk, but stone. After years of being apart, he turned up on Andi's doorstep, unable to control the fits. Since she couldn't help him by herself, Andi…oh, Andi…she went asked and some guy for help."

"Does this story have an ending?" Johnny was getting even more fed up. What did Andi helping someone have to do with anything?

Wade carried on like Johnny had never said anything. "This man that she sought was a very bad man. He gathered up mercenaries and created a group. He was also very rude. I, very stupidly, was part of this group. As you can probably guess, that's where I met Andi. She was a young, hot headed kid, one that I decided to take under my wing…mostly because we were roomies. I helped her survive the group, making her look evil like everyone else, and she helped me escape."

Johnny finally let himself become engrossed in the story. "What happened to Lance?"

"Well, this man did all sorts of tests on Lance, causing him to fall into a coma. And while in this coma, the man brainwashed Lance to be against Andi. We left while Lance was still incapacitated, and hid at Xavier's Institute until Lance resurfaced at that mall."

"How does that make her a mercenary if you made her look evil?"

Wade took in a breath. "In order for Andi to earn her and Lance's keep, she had to…perform some services."

Johnny's eyes went wide. "She was a hooker?"

"No! No no, she had to kill some people that were getting in Stry-this guy's way." Wade explained as if the latter was a much better service.

Johnny was quiet for a second and Wade mentally face-palmed himself. That was a sucky-ass way of explaining things. "So…" Johnny started after a while. "Does she still kill people?"

Wade shook his head a little. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure she doesn't." Wade paused for a millisecond to think. "Then again, she might…especially if Black Widow pisses her off enough."

"Wade, please be quiet before you do anymore damage." A rugged voice said behind them. Both men turned and saw a much older man, about thirty years older, standing a ways away from them.

"Who're you?" Johnny asked.

The older man stepped forward. He had short gray hair, piercing blue eyes, and a tall, thin frame. He was wearing a pair of grey slacks with a short sleeved black polo shirt with a white Wayne-Stark Enterprises logo on the left breast side.

"Wade," The older man addressed the mercenary, who just looked at the man with wide eyes. "Would you mind leaving us? I would like to speak with Johnny alone."

"Does she know?"

The man shook his head. "No. But this was something that I…had to do."

Wade just shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, but if she comes down here looking for trouble, it's all on you." Wade then turned on his heels and left the shooting range.

"Now that Wilson is gone, are you going to answer my question?" Johnny twitched the arm that still held the gun.

"According to classic science fiction law, I'm not supposed to tell you who I am because if I do, something to do with the space-time continuum will explode…or something." The older said. "But, Andi doesn't seem to follow that rule, so I don't see why I should have to." The man paused. "I'm you, Johnny."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm. I grew up in Glenville, Long Island. My sister, Susan, married a dorky scientist named Reed Richards. They have a son named Franklin, after my – our – father."

Johnny interrupted him. "Those are facts anyone could look up."

The older man gave Johnny a tired look. "You love Andi more than anyone on Earth."

"Another fact." Johnny's hand twitched again. "You get one more chance."

The older man gave a very small grin. "_An toi thu dhomh pòg_?"

Johnny was startled. "I most certainly will not!" The response spilled out of him before he finally let it sink in.

The older man's grin grew. "Andi taught me that phrase. She was doing a crossword puzzle in Gaelic one morning."

Johnny nodded along. "It was Robert Burns' death day." Johnny was shocked, but that didn't stop him from asking questions. "How old are you."

The older Johnny chuckled. "Older than I'd like to be." That caused the younger Johnny to laugh. "I'm about forty years ahead of you."

"And Andi?"

The older Johnny smiled affectionately. "She's the same."

"So…what'd you come here for?"

The smile faded, and the older Johnny put his hands in his pants pockets. "I came here because I needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About what you're going to be doing these next few days." The older Johnny paused again. "I know that Hannibal, Caulder, Wade, and you are going on a rescue mission to retrieve Andi. Hannibal and Wade are going to go in while Caulder and you are stationed by the pier with snipers." Johnny's mouth was hanging open slightly as he heard the plan they had concocted being laid out. "I also know that you're not okay with killing people."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

The older Johnny shook his head. "No, not at all." He took a pause to choose his words carefully. "But, this time you're going to have to."

"Says who?" Johnny fought back.

"Actually, says no one." The older Johnny stepped forward and placed his hands on younger Johnny's shoulders. "No one, but you."

"No!" Johnny shrugged the hands off. "_You're_ telling me to!"

The future Johnny shook his head again. "No, I'm not. I'm not telling you to kill anyone. All I am saying is that you are going to have to accept the reality of people killing other people for this situation."

"And why should I?!"

"Because if you don't, Andi will die!" Older Johnny shouted at his younger self.

The younger Johnny stood still, shocked silent. He looked over the now-heated man from the future, taking in all of the details. How amazingly similar they both were. The build was still the same; hair still there, it was grey but still there; eyes still piercing; overall, his skin wasn't quite wrinkly yet, and his fingers…was that a wedding ring?

Johnny let his eyes drift back up and meet with the other man's. "You're wearing a wedding ring."

The other Johnny gave a short nod. "Yes, I am."

"Who did you marry?"

He gave a small smile. "I married this girl that I met a long time ago. We weren't always together, but we always loved on another."

"Did you marry Andi?"

The older man paused for a while, debating whether or not to let loose that information. "Yes."

Without hesitating, "Okay." Johnny took in a deep breath. "I'll do anything I have to."

The Older Johnny smiled. "I remember saying that. And then, the other me sent me to a jewelry store to buy a ring for her."

"You asked her now?"

"No. It was a promise ring, very High School of us, but…it meant that no matter what happened, where life took us or who we might end up with later in life…that we were each other's."

"That's…disgustingly sweet."

The older Johnny laughed. "Yeah, it was. But God did we mean it."

"Hey, Johnny!" Wade came calling from the entrance.

"What?" The younger Johnny turned and shouted back.

"Hannibal wants to talk with you."

"I'll be right there." Johnny turned back to his older self.

"Go on." The older Johnny encouraged. "You have work to do."

Johnny nodded and went towards the door. After he left the room, Wade entered and went up to the older man.

"Do you really think it was a good idea to tell him you married Andi?"

The older Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't tell him we got divorced."


	16. Chapter 16

I stumbled out of the room. Jasmine had already run out. She wanted to get as far away from me as possible. I didn't blame her. I put my right hand on the wall in the hallway, and led myself down, not knowing where I was headed. I put most of my weight on the wall and slowly moved forward.

"And just where do you think you're going?" A voice rang out behind me.

Oh. My. Lorax. I rolled my eyes as I turned around to see Novak standing behind me, cool as a cucumber, leaning against the opposite wall. I pushed myself off of the wall and stood in the middle of the hallway.

"Are you really going to fuck with me right now?" I sneered at him. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not completely drugged out of my mind anymore. I am no longer your plaything."

Novak gave me a smirk that made my skin crawl. "And you're so sure of that?"

I stared him down. "Give me a reason to think otherwise."

Novak smiled and showed off his long fangs. He shrugged as he pushed himself off the wall and began moving smoothly towards me. I was not ready to fight him; I know that.

Before I knew it, he was behind me with his arm around my waist, holding me against him. "Are you really _that_ sure?" He asked with his tone no louder than a breath.

Unintentionally, I shivered and gasped at his words.

Novak placed his mouth at the base of my neck and smiled again. "I didn't think so." He opened his mouth and softly scraped his teeth on my skin.

"You bit me before and nothing happened." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

I felt Novak's tongue lick where his teeth had been. "Nothing happened last time," he paused and hovered above my neck. My breathing became erratic with each breath. Come on, stupid! Move! "Because I didn't want it to happen."

Once again, I felt his teeth sink in to my flesh. Only this time, it was different. It wasn't painful…it was actually kind of nice. I was no longer afraid, in fact, I think I smiled. I was able to completely relax, something I haven't been able to do in so very long. My legs gave way and Novak's arms tensed as he caught me.

When his teeth finally left my skin, I let out a soft moan, thankful that he was no longer biting me, but I sort of missed it at the same time. Novak pressed me closer as my entire body became dead weight.

"That's it, darling. Let it consume you." Novak whispered in my ear.

I took a shaky breath and let my eyes close. Novak bent at the knees and picked me up. He carried me over to the table and laid me back down on it. I whimpered when he set me down.

He shushed me and petted my hair. "You are going to be such a lovely little pet. I can't wait to see how you turn out." He smiled, gave my temple a kiss, and left me.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_"Hey Caulder?" I asked as we sat in his kitchen one evening drinking tea._

_"Yes, Andi?" He responded as he sipped his drink._

_"You've told me pretty much everything about Hannibal, but what about you? How did you get into the 'business'?"_

_He gave a small but uncertain smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm originally from Farsund, Norway. I was born there and lived there until I was about sixteen. My mother and I moved to Toronto after my father died of a heart attack. I graduated college there, majored in Chemistry as if you didn't know…and, I fell in love."_

_"Aww," I mocked him a little and he just gave a short chuckle._

_"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."_

_I smiled. "What was her name?"_

_My smile caused him to smile. "Her name was Pixie Sullivan."_

_"Pixie Sullivan?" I asked incredulously._

_Caulder smiled wider and nodded. "Yeah, she was American."_

_"Sounds Irish to me." I took a sip of my tea._

_"Well she was born in America. Maine, I think." He took a drink. "She was a violinist."_

_I spun my tea cup on the table slowly. "How did you two meet?"_

_"We met at a grocery store. We were both in the produce section, and she was trying to reach a bundle of bananas in the back of that slanted bin, but she couldn't. I was walking by her and after I saw that she couldn't reach, I just grabbed a bundle from the back and handed them to her. She thanked me and we just started talking. We went out for coffee the next day, and we began dating. Simple as that."_

_I took another sip from my cup and got up from the table. "Why did you say she was a violinist?" I asked as I went over to the kettle on the stove and poured more hot water into my cup. I reached up, opened the cupboard above the stove and tried to reach the box of tea._

_Caulder sighed and came over to the cupboard, stood behind me, reached above me, and brought the box down. "I said 'was' because she is not a violinist anymore."_

_I turned around and looked up at him. "What is she now?" I already knew the answer._

_"She's dead." He said in a low tone._

_I waited a few seconds before asking, "What happened to her?"_

_Caulder took a deep breath. "It was our three-year anniversary, and we were going out to dinner. We went to her favorite restaurant, Frankie Tomatoes, which is a large Italian restaurant; not very romantic, but she loved it. So we went, and afterwards we took a walk in a nearby park, I can't really remember the name. I was actually about to propose to her, I had the ring in my pocket and I was about to say some stupid pun, and this guy came up behind us, and he grabbed her." He paused for a moment._

_Even though I had a pretty good feeling about what happened next, I still inquired, "What happened next?"_

_"He, uh, he dragged her away. She was screaming, I tried going after her, but someone else pulled me away. I kicked and I yelled, and I tried to break free from whoever had me but I couldn't. And then…then I heard Pixie scream. It was so shrill, so scared. It terrified me. And then I didn't hear anything. The next thing I know, someone was putting a cloth over my mouth and I was out."_

_I was so completely engrossed in the story I didn't interrupt him. I didn't need to; he continued the story on his own. "I woke up a few days later to a woman sitting next to the bed I was laying in. It was Abby. When I asked where I was, she explained what happened, and that Pixie was attacked by a vampire. I asked why she let Pixie be attacked, and Abby tried to explain to me that she tried to head the bloodsucker off, but she couldn't… …She said that she could only save one." Caulder had teary eyes as he finished. "We moved to Vancouver a little while later, and then a few weeks after that, Abby found Hannibal, and the rest is history."_

_A few seconds after he finished, I stood on my tip toes and hugged Caulder as best as I could. He didn't hesitate to return the hug. "I'm so sorry." I whispered._

_He rubbed my back. "It's okay. I'm glad I'm in the business, I'm good at it."_

_I pulled away from him and only went an arm's length away. "But are you happy here? Is there anything else you would rather be doing aside from fighting vampires? What about your mom? Does she even know where you are?"_

_"My mother's dead. She died a few years ago of pneumonia. And I wouldn't mind dating again, to find someone I can spend however many days I have left with. But right now I'm needed more by Hannibal and Zoe and Anita more than you can understand. And I need them too. I mean, they've been my family for so many years now that I couldn't imagine a life without them."_

_"But what about you and what you want?"_

_Caulder tried to explain it to me. "If I died tomorrow, and I died next to them, whether it was from fighting or a wound or something, I would be content. As long as they would be there, it would be worth it."_

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

J'onn J'onzz was sitting on the bed in his room in the Justice League's Watch Tower, holding his head. He groaned as another wave of pain washed over him. It felt like a long lasting migraine that stretched all over his body…but the fact of the matter is that J'onn J'onzz did not get simple human ailments.

"Maybe some human medications could help with this." He mumbled to himself as he stood up from his bed, legs shaking. Once he stood up, he stumbled over to the door and fell to the wall. He screamed as every nerve in his body began to flare up.

_Knock knock_. "J'onn? Are you okay in there?" A woman's voice asked through the door.

J'onn did not answer; he just stayed on the floor, and curled his body into a fetal position. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. "You're okay." He whispered to himself. "You're going to okay."

_Knock knock knock_! "J'onn! Open the door!" This time it was a male's voice. _Knock knock knock_!

"Leave me alone!" He shouted back. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his mouth. That's when he felt something happen, even though it was not really happening to him: he felt two of his teeth elongate and sharpen. He grabbed his head tightly and screamed again.

There was a crash behind him as the door was busted in. "J'onn!" Wonder Woman rushed to the Martian's side and gently touched him.

J'onn jumped at the touch. "Stop! Don't touch me!" He curled into an even tighter ball. "It hurts so much." He let out a soft sob.

"J'onn," The voice and body of the Green Lantern, John Stewart, came into the room. "Don't you worry, okay? We're going to get you out of here. Diana, step back." Wonder Woman stepped back, and Stewart shot out a green beam from his ring and surrounded J'onn with it. He lifted J'onn up and floated him out of his room and into the hallway. Stewart, with Diana following, took him down to the infirmary and placed the Martian onto the nearest bed.

"John," She whispered to the Green Lantern. "What are we going to do?"

Stewart led her out of the infirmary and whispered. "I'm not sure. I have no idea what's happening to him. It might be a Martian thing-"

"It's not a Martian thing." A different female voice said from down the hallway. Diana and John turned and saw a woman in her mid twenties with long black hair and dark eyes walking toward them. She was dressed in a plain black sweater and light colored jeans with a pair of green Chuck Taylors.

"Andi?" John asked, squinting his eyes slightly.

The woman nodded. "A couple years into the future."

"W-wha…h-how?" Diana stuttered.

She pointed to the belt that was underneath the loops in her jeans. "I used a time belt that some scientist is going to make in about twelve years." Future Andi said, walking passed them and into the infirmary. She headed straight for the bed that J'onn was on. The Martian was shaking terribly and whimpering slightly. Without saying a word, Future Andi clapped her hands together, rubbed them until they burned, closed her eyes, and placed them on either side of J'onn's head.

The alien immediately jumped and tried to shake her hands off. "Stop touching me!" He yelled.

"J'onn, I'm going to need you to calm down." Future Andi said in a soft but stern tone. He only thrashed around more. "J'onn," Her voice became a little more aggressive, "I really need you to cooperate with me." He kept trying to pull out of her touch. Suddenly, Future Andi's eyes opened and glowed bright green and the Martian stopped moving. Slowly, her eyes went back to normal and she removed her hands from his head and backed away from the bed.

"What did you do to him?" Diana rushed to his side and tried to find a sign of life from him.

Future Andi began shaking and sat down in the nearest chair. "I took away his pain."

John came over to Future Andi and looked her over. "Are you alright?"

She shook more violently. "Not really. But then again, neither is Present Andi."

"What do you mean Andi isn't alright?" Diana left J'onn's side and went to Future Andi's.

"I mean that right now, Andi is going through some changes that her body doesn't exactly agree with. Since her and J'onn are connected mentally, he feels whatever she feels and vise versa. So everything that he was feeling just now, she was feeling, and that's what I'm feeling right now."

"Our Andi is going to be okay, right?" John asked.

Future Andi touched her head in pain. "Oh yeah, she'll be fine. She's just having a rough week or so. All this will be over in a few days, so there's no need to worry." Future Andi just sat still for a minute and closed her eyes, trying to regain herself before standing up. "Okay, I've got to go."

"Are you sure you should be…_time traveling_…right now?" Diana said as if she couldn't believe it.

"Oh I probably shouldn't, but I kind of have to. J'onn's not supposed to know that I was here." She said, starting to slowly make her way out of the infirmary.

"But, if you and J'onn are connected, wouldn't he know anyway?" John asked, starting to become confused about the whole situation.

She stopped at the doorway and leaned against the doorjamb. She took a deep breath and spat out, "Okay, this J'onn is not supposed to know that I am here because then he will ask where Past me is at the moment and he is not supposed to know because then he will send a search and rescue team that is not needed because there is already a different team working on retrieving me from my current location so that they can fix whatever damage is being done. Got it?" She took several breaths to compensate for not breathing during the long one-sentence explanation.

Both superheroes stared at her for a moment before slightly nodding their heads. "Yes?"

"Good." She accepted their answer quickly. "Now, I've done what I came to do and I must dash. He'll wake up in a little while and will be perfectly fine." Without another word, Future Andi went into the hallway.

The two superheroes still stood there in disbelief of what had just happened.

A second later, Future Andi popped her head back into the room, "Oh, and don't tell anybody about this. Promise?"

They dumbly nodded and Future Andi left again, this time for real.

"Did you get that?" Diana asked John.

He shook his head. "Not in the slightest. Did you?"

She shook her head as well. "No."

After a moment of silence, John spoke up, "I think it would be better if we just pretended this never happened."

She nodded. "Yes, that would probably be for the best."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"How's he doing?" Johnny asked Caulder the next day as he attached a bag of fluids to the IV in Virgil's arm.

Caulder took a deep breath. "Not bad. Even though he's still unconscious his body is responding well to the treatment. He should come to in a day or so."

"And you're positive about that?" Johnny asked as he stared at Virgil's still body.

Caulder said, "I am absolutely positive. How are you holding up? You seem…tense."

"I just…need him to be okay." Johnny rubbed his forehead and sat down in the chair at the base of Virgil's bed.

"As soon as he wakes up, Virgil is going to be just fine." Caulder went over to Johnny and pat his shoulder. "You should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day for you, for all of us."

Johnny nodded. "I know. I think I'll just stay up a little longer."

"Not too late, goodnight Johnny." Caulder gave the younger man a single pat on the head before leaving the infirmary.

Johnny sat silent for a few minutes before saying, "I know we've never officially met, but I just want you to know that I really want you to wake up. Andi needs you to wake up. You need to wake up."

All of a sudden, Virgil's hand twitched. Johnny perked up and went over to the bed. "Come on, Virgil. Wake up."

His hand twitched again.

Johnny kept waiting.

Virgil's eyes began rolling beneath his lids.

"Come on!"

Very quickly, Virgil flung open his eyes and began taking a large breaths, he moved his head around and tried to figure out his surroundings. "Where am I? Where am I!?"

"You're alright, Virgil. You're safe. Caulder!" Johnny shouted.

Virgil tried to move and get off of the bed, but Johnny led his shoulders.

"Virgil, I know this is kind of sketchy, but you need stay calm!" Virgil continued to thrash around. "Come on, Caulder!"

The Professor ran into the room and also went over to Virgil's bed. "Virgil, do you remember me? I'm one of Andi's professors."

Virgil's eyes suddenly became wide. "Andi! Andi!" He yelled. This outburst caught Hannibal's attention and the vampire hunter came into the infirmary.

When he saw the commotion, he went over to the bed and put his hand over Virgil's mouth. "Virgil, Virgil, it's me, Hannibal, listen up," The young man moved around a little more but Hannibal put more pressure on him. "You need to calm down." Virgil stopped moving around and stared directly into Hannibal's eyes. "You listening?"

Virgil nodded.

"Alright now. You're in my home. You've been here for the past week or so." Hannibal relieved some of the pressure on Virgil's face. "Are you going to be quiet if I let go of your mouth?"

Virgil nodded again. Hannibal lifted his hand from Virgil's mouth. "Where's Andi?" Virgil rough voice asked.

Hannibal backed off slightly. "She's in a little bit of trouble." Before Virgil could say anything, Hannibal continued, "Now don't worry, we're already working on it."

"Right now you should get some rest." Caulder piped in. "I'll get you some water." Caulder left the room for the kitchen.

"Daddy?" Hannibal closed his eyes as soon as he heard the tiny voice of his daughter called from down the hall.

"I'm coming, Squirt." He called back and left the infirmary towards Anita's room.

After Hannibal left the room, Virgil turned to Johnny. "Who're you?"

A little startled because he forgot that Virgil never met him before, "My name is Johnny, Johnny Storm."

Virgil seemed to smile at the name. "You're Andi's boyfriend?"

Johnny smiled and nodded, hoping his warm face was not blushing too much. "Yeah, I am."

"And you're going to go save her?"

Johnny nodded again. "Yes, I am."

Caulder came back in and helped Virgil take a drink of water. "Thank you." Virgil said to Caulder.

Caulder nodded and put the empty glass onto a rolling table in the infirmary. "How are you feeling?"

Virgil took in a deep breath and let it out. "Alive."

"That's a good feeling to have."

Virgil then turned to Johnny. "Did…did you tell Bruce?"

Johnny looked over at Caulder, who shrugged his shoulders, and then back to Virgil. "Tell Bruce what?"

"That Andi's gone."

Johnny shook his head. "No, I didn't tell Bruce anything."

Virgil nodded. "Good. Let's not tell him anything, because then he'll kill me."

"Why?" Caulder asked.

"I promised not to let her get into any trouble."

Johnny softly chuckled. "Did you really think you would be able to keep that promise?"

Virgil smiled and shook his head. "Not really." Then Virgil yawned and Caulder took that as a sign.

Caulder patted Johnny's shoulder and he stood up. "Virgil, we're going to let you get some sleep, alright? We'll check on you again in the morning." Virgil nodded and the two older men left the room.

"Hey, who was he talking about back there? Bruce?" Caulder asked Johnny once they were out of earshot.

"Bruce is her older brother, her biological brother. He's…very protective of her; as am I."

"Have you ever met him?" Caulder asked, sort of already knowing the answer.

Johnny gave a small smirk and shook his head. "No. Maybe one day though."


	17. Chapter 17

"If everyone will turn to the next page," Lucius Fox said to the board members of Wayne Enterprises earlier that morning. "You will find Johnson's report about the marketing department's latest upgrades. Mr. Johnson, if you would, please read your report for the rest of the board."

"In January of this year," Johnson began, "the marketing department hired three new employees-"

"Mr. Fox." The intercom in the middle of the table in the board room sparked to life with the voice of Judy Evans, the recently promoted secretary. "Mr. Wayne has a call on line three."

"We are in the middle of a very important meeting, Judy-" Bruce Wayne tried to ignore the call.

"It's from Langara College, sir."

Bruce quietly and calmly stood up from his chair at the head of the table in the board room and began heading out of the room. "Excuse me, gentlemen." Bruce buttoned his suit jacket as he left.

"Line three, Mr. Wayne." Judy reminded him as he approached her desk just outside of the board room.

He picked up the phone and Judy pressed the correct button to patch the call. "This is Bruce Wayne."

"Hello Mr. Wayne. My name is Stella Hill. I work in the Admissions department at Langara College. I am calling to tell you that Andrea Hawkins, who listed you as her emergency contact, has not attended her classes in two weeks. All but one of her professors have dropped her from their class rosters, and if she has no intention of returning to her classes, she will be dismissed from the college."

Bruce's eyes went wide. "Dismissed?"

"Yes sir, dismissed."

"Um, thank you, Ms. Hill. I will make sure to pass on the message."

"Have a nice day, Mr. Wayne."

"Good day." The woman hung up, and Bruce handed the phone back to Judy. "Judy, I have to take a few days away from the office. A problem has sparked up in Canada, and I must address it."

Judy put the phone back onto the receiver. "Is everything alright, sir?"

"It will be. Please apologize to Lucius for me." Bruce quickly walked away, all the while still maintaining his waltz-like footsteps.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Wake up, darling." A whisper echoed throughout my head a few days later.

I groaned and squeezed my eyes tighter.

"Oh, you sweet thing. Come on, it's time to wake up." The echo continued.

Slowly, my eyes opened and I started shaking uncontrollably when I saw Novak's face above mine. He smiled down at me and I tried my best to growl.

He just chuckled. "Oh, well that's cute. Now, I can't wait for you to see your new self!" Novak pulled a mirror from behind his back and held it up so that I could see.

My skin had gone pale, almost grey. I was still shaking and there were beads of sweat rolling down my face. There were large and dark bags under my eyes…my eyes. They weren't brown anymore. They were a mint green. My hands lifted from the table that I was on and grabbed the mirror. No, no no no no! My hands were shaking even more and I began to take fast and shallow breaths.

"You…are stunning. I've never seen one of us with green eyes before." Novak was smiling.

I opened my mouth and saw a pair of elongated canines. A raspy scream came out of my mouth and I dropped the mirror and grabbed my head.

"Aren't you just adorable? Don't worry, darling, you will learn to love your new…features." Novak patted my head. "Darling, I wish I could stay here longer, but I'm afraid I must dash. Paperwork, you know."

I growled at him again and he only chuckled. "I'll be back later, Darling!" He left the room and I immediately took another look at what kind of situation I was in.

I was no longer chained to the table, but was actually pretty free. There was no IV in my arm, but I was in different clothes though. I was no longer in my black long sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans, but I was in a tight black short sleeved sweater and a pair of light blue jean shorts (still held up by my Green Lantern belt buckle), and I was in a pair of black high heeled booties. I don't know who dressed me or what they did to me while I was out, but Novak was going to pay for it.

I jumped off of the table and made my way out of the room. I looked around to see if anyone was going to keep me locked in here, but there was no one. Seriously? No one? I went out into the hallway, and I did not see a single person. I actually left the room and began walking down the hallway toward the right. As I walked, I checked to see if there was anything in my pockets, of course there was nothing. I continued walking and I saw this large open lounge space ahead of me. There was a group of…vampire bitties? I am not sure, they were dressed like skanks and were lying across a bunch of males that were with them on a couch. They sounded like they were talking, so I made to just turn right around and try the other way.

I barely turned around when one of the bitties looked up and saw me in the doorway. "Hey!"

She got up and came over to me. She was blonde and wore a very tight red dress with impossibly high heels to match. I stepped back and she only stepped forward. "You're Novak's new squeeze, right?"

I shook my head. "No. I fucking hate Novak."

The bitty did not seem to care what I said. "You are…_pretty_. I guess. Guys, come over here!"

The others got up and came over. They all had the same pale blue eyes. "Look at those eyes! They're green!"

"No wonder Novak likes her!"

"Who picked that outfit though?"

"Hey, bitch, that was me!"

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

Two of the girls started pulling at each other's hair, and a couple of the guys tried to pull them apart. I took this distraction as a way of escaping. I ran away from them as best as I could in heels and I went right back into my room and closed the door.

"What kind of people am I surrounded by?" I asked myself.

"Some fucked up weirdoes, that's what." A female voice said behind me.

I turned around and saw Jasmine standing in the corner of my room.

"Jasmine, what is going on around here?"

She shrugged. "You're the talk of the building. You're Novak's new…squeeze, as they like to call you. You're the new fad. You and your green eyes."

"But why is he letting me roam around like this?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I guess he wants you to see how popular you are around here."

"And that's going to make me want to stay? I don't get it."

"I don't know. I've been locked up for days myself."

I let my head drop a little. "I'm sorry."

Jasmine shrugged again. "It's alright; it got me away from things for a while."

"Are you alright?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Jasmine looked at my outfit and raised her eyebrow. "Nice threads."

"Hey, do you happen to know where my other clothes are?"

She shook her head again. "No, but if they're anywhere, they would either be in an incinerator or with Novak. Probably the incinerator though."

I nodded, knowing that Novak would probably keep Wade's cell phone. "Okay, thanks."

"Listen," She began inching her way toward the door. "I can't visit you anymore."

My eyebrows knitted together. "Why not? You're like…the only sane person here, including myself."

She smiled slightly, but then her face became very serious. "If I am seen with you after this visit…then…I'm going to get," she paused for a second as she tried to get the last word out. "beheaded."

I nodded. "Okay. Just one more question," I lowered my voice. "When I'm...escaping – because I will – where can I find you?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Excuse me?" Bruce Wayne entered the doorway to Caulder's office at Langara.

Caulder looked up from his lab write ups and stared at Bruce, slightly confused. "Yes, what can I help you with?

Bruce pointed to the nameplate on the door. "You are Professor Caulder, aren't you?"

Caulder nodded and stood up. "I am. And you are?"

Bruce extended his hand. "My name is Bruce Wayne. I'm Andrea Hawkins' older brother."

Caulder's eyes widened a little and shook Bruce's hand. "You're Andi's brother?"

Bruce nodded. "Do you happen to know where she is?"

Caulder was a little put off at Bruce's question. "Um, excuse me?"

"Well you are the only professor of hers that seems to think that she still attends this school, so I'm figuring that you have at least seen or heard from her recently. So, I ask again, do you know where she is?"

Caulder slowly nodded his head. "Close the door." He whispered to Bruce. Bruce closed the door. "Sit down, Mr. Wayne." Bruce sat in the chair next to Caulder's in front of his desk. "Mr. Wayne, I know exactly where your sister is. However, the problem is that I haven't been able to get to her."

"What do you mean by that?"

Caulder once again did not know what to say. "It would be much easier if my colleague explained it to you. He's much more…blunt when it comes to explaining things than I am."

Bruce's patience was running very thin. He took a deep breath. "Caulder," he began. "Just tell me where the fuck she is and I will go get her myself." He gave Caulder a dark stare; it was very Batman of him.

Caulder took a deep breath and tried not to crumble under Bruce's stare. "Mr. Wayne, I am honestly sorry to tell you that Andi was taken two weeks ago by a hoard of vampires. One, specifically, by the name of Novak Haben."

Bruce's eyes squinted. "Why haven't you gone to get her?"

"Because being a human, it is extremely difficult to get in and out of a skyscraper of vampires alive. We have to prepare and plan our actions down to a 'T' before making a move."

Bruce nodded his head slightly. "Do you know about her?"

Caulder nodded. "Her powers? Yes, I do. They're amazing."

"I'm not so sure they're that amazing anymore. Seeing as she has the ability to teleport anywhere, why hasn't she escaped?" Bruce was getting snarky.

"Well I'm obviously not sure, but my best guess is that they have her drugged to the point of a coma for her, death for any normal person. And they've probably had her like that since the day she got there."

Bruce let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, folded over, and put his face in his hands. He sat like that for a second before popping back up. "I want to speak with this colleague of yours. Right now; I want to see him right now."

"Well, I can't really leave work right now-"

"I really don't give a shit Mr. Caulder." Bruce interrupted him. "My sister has been missing for two weeks. Her brother has also been missing, however just a few days longer than she has, and I'm kind of wondering why his family hasn't been notified." Bruce sat up a little straighter. "Take me to your colleague. Now."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"So what do you do for a living, Johnny?" Virgil asked a little later that day.

Johnny gave a short chuckle. He was sitting the in chair next to Virgil's bed in the infirmary. "I, uh, am mostly sponsored. I'm part of the Fantastic Four, and…uh, I occasionally do commercials."

"Well that's really stable." Virgil said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't get sassy with me. You're in college! You don't even have a job!"

Virgil laughed, which caused Johnny to laugh.

"Where is he?!" An angry voice said from the front of the compound.

"What was that?" Johnny asked as he stood up and went to the doorway of the infirmary.

The voice came again. "I will get him myself if you don't take me to him!"

"Shit!" Virgil sat up more in his bed.

"What? Who is it?"

"That's Bruce!" Johnny moved away from the doorway and came to stand by Virgil's bed.

A few seconds later, Bruce showed up in the doorway. He was obviously angry and was taking fast breaths. "Are you alright, Virg?"

Virgil nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Bruce nodded at him and glared at Johnny. "Who's this?"

Virgil begins, "This is-"

But Johnny cut him off and stepped forward with his hand stretched. "I'm Johnny Storm, sir."

Bruce looked down at his hand and then back up to Johnny's eyes. Bruce gave him a questioning glare before shaking his hand. "Do I know you?"

"Um, I'm part of the Fantastic Four-"

Virgil returned the favor and cut him off. "He's Andi's boyfriend."

Johnny turned his head to Virgil. "Dude! Un-cool."

He turned back to Bruce who still had his hand in his grip. The grip became slightly tighter and Johnny tried to match the grip. "Boyfriend?" Bruce asked.

Johnny kept a strong face. "Yes, sir."

"Mm." Bruce gave him a quick once over before releasing his hand. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I was in the area, and…Andi invited me to fight vampires with her."

Bruce raised his eyebrow.

"That really didn't sound as good out loud as it did in my head." Johnny scratched the back of his head.

"Nothing ever does, Johnny." Bruce reluctantly reached out and gently patted Johnny's shoulder. "Nothing ever does."

Johnny was slightly shocked, as was Virgil. However, Hannibal's entrance into the infirmary distracted them from Bruce's out-of-character act.

Hannibal looked Bruce over quickly before stepping forward and extending his hand. "You must be Bruce Wayne."

Bruce nodded and shook his hand. "I am. And you must be Hannibal King."

Hannibal nodded. "Yes sir."

Bruce did not waste time with any pleasantries. "What's being done to get my sister back?"

Hannibal brought Bruce closer to him and threw his arm around Bruce's shoulders. He began to steer Bruce out of the infirmary. "Let me show you what we're dealing with, first."

As soon as Bruce and Hannibal were out of earshot, Bruce pushed Hannibal against the nearest wall. "What happened to his eyes?"

"Excuse -" Bruce cut Hannibal off by pressed his forearm into Hannibal's throat.

"Virgil's eyes. They are supposed to be brown. Why are they blue?"

"Bruce," Caulder called from behind them. Bruce turned and let Hannibal free. "I can explain that one."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

That night, I lied on my table and stared at the ceiling. I was disappointed. Earlier, after Jasmine left, I had tried to raise the vine tattoos off of my arms. But alas, nothing happened. I had even tried teleporting, but still nothing happened. The only thing that didn't seem to be off was the weather. I was able to see the outside by the small window near the ceiling of my room. It was dark and grey outside. It has been like that since I arrived here, and I can only assume it is because I have been completely off my game: first I became a vegetable for a few weeks, and now I'm clinically dead. Yeah, these have not been my best moments.

I stood up on the table and stared at dark grey sky. I focused my eyes and tried to change it, tried to at least shift the clouds a little. Still nothing. I let out a large sigh. Perhaps this was the 'dead' phase of weather. It's cold, dark, grey, but there is no precipitation to relieve it.

I dropped down and lied back onto the table. You know, the least they could have done was give me a real bed.

Suddenly, the door opened and one of the bitties came in.

"What do you want?"

"I brought you dinner." She said before tossing an unconscious man into the room.

I sat up and looked down. "That doesn't look like what I ordered."

"Just be lucky you're getting that. Novak usually has the newborns kill their first meal." The bittie left me alone with the man. There was an interesting odor coming off from him, a very metallic one. I hopped down from the table and went over to him. Whatever the smell was, it was delicious. I poked at him and found that was dead, still pretty warm though. Turning him over, I saw the face of Dr. Layton, my old professor. There was a large slash through his throat and his eyes were staring blankly at the ceiling. I thought I should be feeling remorse, but I wasn't. There was blood all over the front of him.

I took a large breath and…God did it smell so good. I kneeled next to him and took another breath. This was literally the best thing I had ever smelled and I really just wanted to…taste it.

My eyes became wide as I scuttled away from my old professor. No. I may be one of them, but I will not _be_ one of them. I had to get out of the room. Like, now.

I ran from the room and got out into the hallway. This time I went to the left side to avoid the room of bitties I ran into before. I went through the empty corridor and came to a staircase at the end of it. I decided to go up them. I came to the next floor and was immediately in a lobby. There was a nice fluffy tan carpet and a few modern chairs of black leather. There was a fern near a door in the middle of the back wall, and a dark stained desk and a young blonde haired woman who was painting her finger nails at the desk.

She did not look up when she said, "Are you Andi Hawkins?"

I looked around quickly to see if anyone else was here. "Uh, yeah?"

The woman looked up. "Mr. Haben will see you now."

I didn't move. I just sort of looked at her confused. She continued to stare at me and pointed to the door.

Just to get away from her stare, I walked forward and opened the door. I went into the office and closed the door behind me. I looked up and saw a normal office: there was a desk with a black leather chair behind it and a regular desk chair in front of it, a set of metal filing cabinets, and a paper shredder and waste basket next to the cabinet. There was also a wall of security monitors behind the desk.

"I see you made it to your appointment." A voice came from behind the desk.

I shrugged. "Truth be told, I didn't even know I had an appointment."

The chair turned around and Novak stared at me. He looked different, tired even. "Well, I figured you would go exploring and would eventually find your way up here."

"You look a little tired there, _darling_."

Novak closed his eyes and cracked his neck. "I have not fed in a while. I've been too busy."

"There's a dead guy in room, if you want him."

Novak nodded. "Your old professor, wasn't he?"

I nodded. "Indeed."

Novak sighed. "Well, I am sorry that it did not satisfy you." Jeepers, he was really off. "Please, sit."

I sat in the chair that was across from his desk. I stared at him with a little bit of confusion, but he would not look at me, he was looking at the wall behind me.

"Do you remember," He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "A little while ago when I told you that I had information about your oh-so-secretive past?"

My jaw tightened slightly and I nodded. "Yes."

"Well, then I simply must tell you something about that oh-so-secretive past of yours."

I took a quiet but deep breath. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Novak finally looked at me and shook his head. "Don't look into it."

"Excuse me?"

Novak leaned on his desk. "It's a fucking Greek tragedy, okay? You were passed around like a fucking ragdoll and nobody gave a shit about what actually happened to you. That's the truth and I would strongly advise you to not go digging for more details."

I sat there and stared at him. His piercing pale blue eyes stared right back. I did not know what else to say except, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me loud and clear. Do. Not. Look into it."

"Excuse me!"

Novak smiled slightly. "Can you say anything else?"

"Yes!" I hit the arm of my chair. "And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?!" My voice had elevated as I stood up.

Novak slowly stood up without breaking eye contact and his voice became louder and angrier as he said, "I am your sire! And you will sit down in my presence."

I sat down and continued to stare into his eyes. I tried to look away, but I just…just couldn't.

"Now," Novak sat down and kept staring. "The reason you are here, in this office, is for me to tell you not to worry about your past."

I knit my eyebrows together slightly. "Why?"

He leaned closer to me. "Because you don't have a past anymore."

I sat back and my eyes widened. Suddenly, all of my thoughts went blank. "I don't have a past anymore."

"This building and the people in it are all you know, all you have ever known."

"This building and the people in it are all I know, all I have ever known."

Novak sat back. "Good. Now, darling, go back to your room and wait for me there."

I did not say anything as I stood up and left the office and returned to my room.


	18. Chapter 18

"Thank you for being a friend," Wade sang under his breath along with the television. "Traveled down the road and back again, do do do, your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant."

"And if you threw a party," Anita sang along as she sat next to Wade on the couch in the living space.

Wade smiled down at her, "Invited everyone you knew!"

"You would see-" Anita continued.

"The biggest gift-"

"Would be from me!"

"And the card attached would say-" Wade pointed to Anita who finished strong.

"Thank you for being a friend!"

"Nice." Wade held his hand up and Anita high-fived it.

"I didn't know you liked to watch _The Golden Girls_, Wade." Bruce said with a smirk as he watched the duo from the open doorway to the kitchen.

"It's my go-to show, Brucie." Wade smirked at Bruce and then turned back to the television. When Bruce didn't leave, Wade took a quick look at him again. "You need something?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Wade took another quick look. "Can it wait until commercial?"

Bruce shrugged. "It could, but I'm not the waiting type."

Wade gave a soft growl as he turned away from the television again, and then turned back. "Tell me everything that happens when I get back." He whispered to Anita.

"Okay." She nodded and watched the two older men walk away.

These past few weeks had been weird for her. First she has a babysitter that isn't in her family, then she actually leaves the Honeycomb Hideout for something other than school, and then four brand new people came into their Hideout…and her dad is allowing it.

"All my life he's been keeping people away from us, and now he finally let people in…maybe things are changing." She thought to herself.

Anita smiled to herself as she turned her attention back to the television.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"So, what's up, Brucie boy?" Wade asked when the door to the kitchen closed behind the two men.

"Alright, so I know the plan: You and Hannibal are going to go fetch Andi, Johnny and Caulder are going to be at the pier. And that's all fine and dandy. But how are you going to get Andi back here? Have you looked at the sky lately?"

Wade looked out the window in the kitchen. "It's cloudy and dark."

"Right, but there's no humidity in the air," Bruce pointed out. "It's dry and it's cold."

"I've noticed." Wade turned back to Bruce and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's been like this for weeks."

"Ever since she was taken?"

Wade shrugged. "Probably. I came into this little operation a few days late." There was a pause. "What would you call this weather? Not describe it, but call it."

"I don't know. It's kind of…inactive. Like it doesn't know what kind of weather it should be." Bruce stared out the window.

Wade nodded along with him. "The puppet master isn't in control anymore." Wade sighed. "Meaning Andi's dead."

"Or she's in a coma of some sort." Bruce looked back at Wade and said defensively. "This kind of weather has happened before when she's been out for the count-"

"Bruce," Wade interrupted him. "You do realize that she was taken by vampires, right? And from what I recall from all of the vampire lore I've ever heard, they are a not a very merciful species."

"While that is true, you know Andi about as well as I do, and you know she had a way of getting out of the trouble that she got herself into."

Wade gave a small smirk. "Now _that_ is true."

"So, let's just assume that she is alive," Bruce continued. "How are you going to get her from the building she is in to the pier?"

Wade ran a hand over his bald scalp in thought. "Well, I was sort of assuming that she had been turned, not killed, but turned into a vampire. So, before I left our apart – I mean _her_ apartment-"

"I know you live together. It's fine. As long as she's not living with Johnny, it's okay." Bruce reassured him, albeit through clenched teeth.

"Alright, well, before I left the apartment to come here, I grabbed her Deadpool uniform, which would cover her completely from head to toe. That way, if she had been turned and the sun was out, she would be able to put the uniform on and go outside."

Bruce nodded. "That's actually pretty smart."

"Well, I'm not as dumb as I seem."

Bruce shrugged. "You don't seem that dumb. I understand I've only met you a few times, but you always seem to know what you're doing."

"I'm good at planning…and executing. Especially executing." Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "It's the whole 'common sense' thing I don't have down."

Bruce smirked.

There was another pause. "Bruce, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back."

Bruce nodded slightly. "I know. That's why I'm leaving. You have this under control."

Wade's eyebrows knitted together. "What? Don't you want to make sure she's okay?"

"I do, but I don't want to get yelled at and accused of smothering her. I'm just not in the mood to be in a fight with her."

"That I understand; a fight with Andi can be very tiring and very time consuming."

Both men chuckled.

Wade stuck out his hand. "It was nice seeing you again, Bruce."

Bruce smiled and shook his hand. "It's always a pleasure, Wade." Once they broke their handshake, Bruce turned and began heading out the other end of the kitchen, away from the living. Then he turned around. "Actually, do you know where Johnny is?"

Wade touched the top of his head again. "I think he went into town for something a little while ago, but he should be back soon if he isn't already."

"Thanks, I'll see you around, Wade."

Wade smirked. "See you, Bruce." As Bruce was exiting the kitchen, Wade coughed, "Try a jeweler's." And he continued to cough.

Bruce turned back to him with a stern look.

Wade shrugged and began backing out of the room. "I didn't say anything."

Bruce turned around and stalked out of the kitchen.

Wade then backed out of the kitchen and into the living room and plopped down next to Anita. "So, what'd I miss?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Good afternoon," A middle aged man said as Johnny walked through the front door of _Hess' Gold and Jewelry_. "What can I help you with today?"

"Um," Johnny walked in and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm looking for, uh, an, um," he lowered his voice. "I'm looking for an engagement ring."

The older man smiled. "Oh, well that's wonderful! Over here would is our selection of engagement and wedding rings." The older man led Johnny to the glass counter on the left side of the store. "Is there a specific cut you were looking for? What's your price range?"

"Um," Johnny was slightly overwhelmed with the large selection available to him. The top and middle shelf in the case were filled with different engagement rings, all of them being different colors and cuts, with different types of bands, and none of the stones being the same size – it was just not what Johnny was used to. "Price isn't really an issue, but I'm not really sure what to get her."

"Well, what's her favorite color or gem? That'll give us a place to start."

"She likes green." A deep voice said behind Johnny. Johnny's eyes widened as he slowly turned around to come face to face with Bruce Wayne.

"Um, I-I-I can explain." Johnny stuttered as he raised his hands up in a 'please don't kill me' kind of way.

Bruce stared at Johnny for a moment and then turned to the middle aged man and smiled, "Can we see the green diamonds and emeralds, please?"

The middle aged man was a bit confused. "Uh, sir?"

"Oh! I'm sorry." Bruce genuinely apologized to the middle aged man. "The ring is for my sister, and I just wanted to make sure he got the right one." Johnny shot Bruce a look of surprise.

The middle aged man relaxed. "Oh! Of course!" He opened the glass case and pulled out two displays, one with light green diamond rings, and one with darker green emerald rings.

Bruce turned to Johnny, "So, what do you think?"

Johnny was still a bit weary of Bruce being so darn nice, so he stood an extra step away, but he looked over the selection all the same. "They are all very nice…but…she has a lot of green," he looked up at Bruce. "You know? I d-don't want this ring to blend in with everything else."

Bruce nodded. "Makes sense. What were you thinking then?"

"Well," Johnny rubbed the back of his neck. "I was thinking maybe something purple? To go with her flower? What do you think?"

Bruce gave Johnny a very small, like almost non-existent smile. "I think that would be nice." Bruce then turned to the middle aged man. "If you wouldn't mind, could we see your purple diamond rings and your amethyst rings, please?"

The man smiled. "Of course." He put the two green ring displays and replaced them with two purple ring displays.

Bruce turned back to Johnny. "Well?"

Johnny took a step closer to Bruce and he gave the rings a quick look over. "I like this one." He pointed out a simple gold ring with a small marquise shaped amethyst with two round cut diamonds on either side of the amethyst.

"It's a little small isn't it?" Bruce asked.

Johnny shook his head a little and smirked. "No. Andi doesn't like flashy things." The jeweler picked up the ring and handed it to Johnny. "It's pretty enough that she can show it off and be proud, but not too much that she wouldn't be able to wear it while doing things."

Bruce nodded and shot a quick look between Johnny and the ring. "It sounds perfect."

Johnny smiled. "It is." He looked up at the middle aged man. "I'll take it."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Johnny put the little velvet box which contained the ring in it into his pocket as him and Bruce walked down the road back towards the pier. "So," Johnny began. "Are you going to kill me now? Because if you are, then just-"

"I'm not going to kill you." Bruce interrupted him.

"Then why did you come looking for me?"

Bruce took a deep breath, "Listen, pretty boy, I love my sister more than anything in the world. And for some _strange_ reason, she has picked you out of the plethora of males that she knows…I'm still not sure why."

Johnny stared at the street ahead of him with an almost pained look on his face, as if he was waiting for Bruce to come to his senses and just wail on him for making a move on his sister.

"However, since you were chosen," Bruce continued, "I am obligated to…invite you…to brunch. On Saturday, at nine."

Johnny stopped and Bruce kept walking for a few steps. "Excuse me?" Johnny called to him and Bruce turned around.

"A few years ago, when Andi was adopted by Virgil's family, her new dad and I started having brunch on Saturdays at nine so that we could get to know each other. And, after a few months, we decided that if Andi ever got serious with someone, we would extend an invitation so that we could get to know them. And so, here I am, doing exactly that."

Johnny was silent for a moment and he just stared at Bruce, not really believing what was just said. After a minute, he began, "So…you're not mad at me for buying the ring?"

Bruce put his hands in his pockets and took two steps toward Johnny. "I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, part of me wants to beat you to a pulp right now, but another part of me knows that you'll make her happy. And I don't if you know this, but Andi has been though a lot, seen too much, and she deserves to be happy."

Johnny was still a bit confused. "I guess I still don't understand why you followed me to the jewelry store."

Bruce let out a small sigh. "I wasn't lying when I said I wanted you to get the right ring."

"But what do you care what kind of ring I give her?"

Bruce stopped Johnny. "Listen, I care because Andi…cherishes every gift that someone gives her. She still wears this necklace that I gave her like three and a half years ago. And the only reason she even got it was because while I was one the way to see the play she was in, I saw it at a street vendor's as I walked by and it made me think of her." Bruce paused for a quick second. "That; and I was still trying to get back into her good graces after a fight."

"So," Johnny began, finally getting it. "You just wanted me to get something that she would like for a long time."

Bruce nodded. "I didn't want you to accidently screw up…in her eyes, I mean."

Johnny nodded and held out a hand. "Thanks, Bruce."

Bruce shook his hand. "You're welcome, Johnny." Bruce pulled his wallet from his back pocket and took out a business card. "Here is the address where Robert and I meet up. Be there at eight forty five on Saturday morning."

Johnny took the card and deftly nodded. "Yes, sir."

Bruce turned and began walking away, but he turned around and said, "Johnny," The younger man looked up from the card. "Don't disappoint me."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Deadpool was sitting in full costume on the roof of the Honeycomb Hideout, staring at the city; mostly at the tall office building just left of the center of the skyline. It was just about the middle of the day, and the group was going into the city in a little while. The mission was happening in an hour or so, but Deadpool was still a bit uneasy.

"Wade?" Caulder asked from the hatch that led to the roof. "What are you doing up here?"

"Just brooding." Deadpool did not avert his gaze from the building.

Caulder came over and sat down next to him. "And why are you brooding?"

"I am feeling a bit angst-y, and angst-y people brood. So that is what I am doing."

"Is there a reason for your angst?" Jeez, Caulder thought, does he have to make this so difficult?

Deadpool was silent for a moment before he pulled off his face mask. "The last time I spoke to Andi…I was, uh, not in the greatest of moods."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Caulder asked.

Wade shook his head. "Not especially."

"Ah, come on, Wade," Caulder nudged his arm a little. "It might make you feel better."

Wade groaned. "You know, you are just like her." He sounded annoyed.

Caulder sat silent for a minute. "Come on, Wade. What happened between you two?"

He sighed. "Alright, so, the last time I spoke to her I was trying to get over the fact that most of the people that I called friends wanted me dead. And I know I'm not the greatest person on the planet, and I'm not the most thoughtful, or the most sensitive, or the most anything, really. But, just to have a group of people you know stare at you and tell you to your face that they don't want you alive anymore, well that just puts a damper on your whole day."

Caulder stared ahead at the city, not really wanting to believe what he was saying. "So what happened next?"

"Well, after that I sort of had this series of bad decisions where I actively tried to get myself killed. After a bout with the Hulk-"

"Who's the Hulk?" Caulder interrupted him.

"He's this big, angry, muscly, green guy – you know what, it's not that important. Anyway, after I survived a bout with the Hulk, I went back to the apartment and waited for Andi to come back from wherever she was so that I could talk to her about it. After about an hour, I went down to the nearest liquor store and bought a case of beer. I drank the whole as I continued to wait for her; my anger stewed and I got more and more angry by the minute. I tried watching The Golden Girls, because that always makes me feel better," Wade sniffed, like he was on the verge of tears. "But it didn't work, it only made it worse."

Caulder put a hand on Wade's shoulder. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to."

Wade ignored the statement. "I waited for her for seven hours. And when she finally came back I was so invested in my own thoughts about how I didn't have anybody that I didn't want to look at her." Wade wiped at his cheek roughly. "When I finally asked her to kill me, she refused – obviously – and then… …I got angry."

Wade put his face in his hands and Caulder pat his shoulder. "I mean it, Wade. If this is too much, you don't have to keep talking."

Wade took a deep breath and pulled his hands away from his face. In one breath he said, "I got angry and threw her against a wall and called her a bad friend and told her we were done which was really stupid because she was the only friend I've had in a really long time and now I'm afraid I'm not going to get her back." Wade took several deep breaths to try and calm down.

Caulder squeezed Wade's shoulder, "It's okay, Wade. We'll get her back."

"I know." Wade nodded. "I'm just afraid that I fucked everything up with the one person that was actually stable in my life."

Caulder felt like he just got hit in the head. "Wade, I know this really isn't the time to be asking you this, but do you love her?"

Wade turned to face Caulder and raised his eyebrow. "Love how?"

Caulder inhaled. "Are you in love with Andi?"

"I am not in love with Andi! She is my partner, my sidekick, and the best friend I've ever had. I trained her, I watched her grow into the most badass little kid I've ever met. But that's exactly what she is: a kid. She is _nineteen_; I'm older than you – probably. Look, I love Andi, but I am _not_ 'in love' with her."

An awkward silence fell between them. "Sorry for asking." Caulder apologized a minute later.

There was another silence. After another minute, "You know, I imagine that if I ever had a kid, they would be a lot like her."

"Um, not to ruin this…beautiful moment," Hannibal's voice came from behind them. Wade and Caulder turned around and saw him popping out of the hatch. "But are we going on this mission? Or do you just want to sit on the roof and cry all night? I mean, I'm good with staying home and crying, but I just really needed to check with you guys."

"Yeah," Wade stood up. "We're going."

Caulder stood up as well and followed Wade as he went over to the hatch and dropped back into the Honeycomb Hideout.


	19. Chapter 19

"Welcome back." Wade said as watched Johnny return to the barge.

"Hey, Wade." Johnny was about to pass him by, when Wade stood in front of him and blocked his way.

Wade made a quick look to the box shaped bulge in Johnny's right pocket. "Let me see it."

"See what?"

Wade rolled his eyes, "The ring, Hothead. I want to see the ring you got for Andi."

Johnny sidestepped around Wade. "How do you know I bought a ring?"

"Uh," Wade began as he stepped in front of Johnny again. "Because I'm not stupid? Come on: the lover boy leaves mysteriously for an afternoon while the damsel is away, and to be perfectly honest in distress," Johnny moved around Wade again and was walking away, but Wade followed him. "Not to mention, that it is the same day that said lover boy was going to retrieve said damsel from her distress. And when the lover boy returns from his afternoon, he has nothing to show for it…except for a bump in his pocket, and it sure isn't because he's excited to see little ole me."

Johnny stopped with his back to Wade, let out a chuckle, and turned around. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the blue velvet box, and opened it. "There, happy?"

Wade let out a slight smile. "You know, I'm not a fan of gold," Wade closed the box. "But she'll love it."

"Okay, is there anyone else I have to show this to? I mean, I was already cornered at the jewelry store by Bruce and now I'm being badgered by you. You know, everyone's lack of faith in me picking something nice out concerns me about how I come across."

"Whoa, dude, calm down. I was just curious." Wade patted Johnny's shoulder. "Now, go put that thing away and get ready, we're leaving in twenty minutes."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Alright, now make sure you have enough ammo." Zoe told Johnny as she helped him get his sniper stand ready. "Because if something happens and you don't have enough-" She handed him another box of ammo and adjusted the scope on his gun

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, kid." Johnny took the extra box of ammo.

"Right, now make sure you don't-"

"Hey," He interrupted her. "I got it, alright?"

"You sure? Because I can help-" She began to rearrange the setup of his sniper stand when Johnny stepped between her and the stand.

"Zoe!"

She backed off. "Sorry! Sorry! I just wanted to help."

"I know," Johnny reassured her. "But I've got this, don't worry."

Zoe sighed. "Alright." She turned around and started to walk away when she turned back to Johnny. "Just don't fuck this up."

Johnny threw up his hands. "What is with everyone's lack of faith in me? Seriously, I don't get it!"

Zoe shrugged. "We just don't know you."

"Well…can you just…believe in me? And be like the one person here that actually thinks I can do this?"

Zoe looked at him weirdly for a second before saying, "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you." Johnny let out a sigh.

"Hey, Zoe!" Caulder called from below as he stood on the pier. "Why don't you leave the lover boy alone and come down here to help me unload some crates from the back of the Denali."

"Coming!" She called.

Johnny leaned over his stand to look down at Caulder. "Could you not call me 'lover boy'? It makes me feel like a teenager."

"Well you are dating one." Hannibal walked by carrying two red jugs full of gasoline.

"Ouch." Johnny said.

"We only tease you because we like you." Caulder assured him.

Johnny's eyebrows knitted together. "Well I guess that's kind of sweet then." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Knock it off, cradle robber." Hannibal called up to him again. "Once this truck's unloaded, Wade and I are out of here. So you better be ready."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Deadpool and Hannibal were sitting in the front seats of the Denali a block away from the building. They were sitting in silence, Hannibal moving his knee up and down in a "tired-of-waiting" way, and Deadpool sitting very still.

After a minute, Hannibal broke the silence with a large sigh. "Are you ready yet?"

"Just…one more minute, okay?"

"What's the big deal? It's just a rescue mission."

Deadpool shook his head and took off his mask. "No, it's so much more than that. She is…my…only friend. If I fuck this up, and something happens to her..." Wade trailed off for a moment. "I will actually kill myself."

Hannibal scoffed. "That's bullshit."

"Excuse me?" Wade turned and sneered. "Don't tell me what I mean and don't mean."

"I will tell you what I know. A few years ago, the only woman I have ever loved died. I had that same idea and I was ready to go through with it. And then I heard the cry of my new baby, and I realized I had responsibility. So I manned up." Wade glared at him. "I know it sucks, but it's time for you grow some balls and deal with this."

"I'm just not ready-" Wade started.

"Well, good." Hannbial interrupted him. "Let's go home then and leave Andi. What do I care? This is just another mission to put my life on the line and endanger the future of my child. Let's go home; wait until you're ready." Hannibal put the key back in the ignition and turned the engine over.

He was about to put it in gear when Wade spoke up, "Turn off the engine." Hannibal looked over at Wade. Wade put his mask back on and repeated, "Turn off the engine."

Hannibal turned it off and opened his door. "Now that's more like it."

Deadpool got out of the Denali and headed for the hatchback. 'You can do this, Wade,' the yellow persona said. The white persona chimed in, 'You promised you'd protect her.'

"And I'm gonna do just that." Deadpool mumbled to himself as Hannibal opened the hatchback and started handing him guns.

"What was that?"

Deadpool shook his head. "Nothing. Just talking to myself."

"Come on," Hannibal grabbed a couple stakes and slid them into the holder on his pant leg. "Let's go."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hannibal and Deadpool were across the street behind a dumpster, making sure that everything was loaded. Deadpool pulled out a silencer from one of his pockets and attached it to one of his pistols.

"Whoa, is that a silencer?" Hannibal looked over and admired the piece.

"Yes, sir." Deadpool smirked and pulled out another one from the same pocket. "You want one?"

"Absolutely." Deadpool handed him the extra and Hannibal attached it to one of his pistols. "Where did you find these?"

Deadpool gave a short chuckle. "When you've been a mercenary as long as I have, you collect all sorts of goodies."

"You know, I've been looking for one of these but whenever I get new guns, they never have any."

"You can have that."

Hannibal smirked. "Really?"

Deadpool shrugged. "Absolutely. I have like, six of them."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Deadpool cocked his gun. "Let's go."

They came out from behind the dumpster and stalked toward the front door. "I still can't believe we're walking through the front door." Hannbial whispered to Deadpool.

"Trust me," Deadpool whispered back. "It will work." They walked up to the door man.

"Excuse me-" The older man started to say when Deadpool clocked him.

"Sorry, old man." And they walked in.

"You know," Hannibal began. "I feel like this place should be more heavily guarded."

Deadpool nodded along. "See, that's what they want you to think. They scare people into thinking that there's more security than there actually is so that people don't come sniffing around."

They were walking passed the front desk and the security guard sitting there was getting up and coming toward them when Hannibal pulled out his silenced pistol and shot the man, turning him into ash.

"And the fact that they're vampires sort of allows them not to need security." He responded.

"True dat." Deadpool shot another security guard that was standing in front of the elevator doors.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Novak was sitting in his office, watching two mysterious men just waltz through his front door and shoot up anyone who crossed their path. He just tilted his head and continued to watch as they continued to shoot down anyone who came their way as they went up the stairway to the next floor.

"Sir," Novak spun his chair to see the man who took blood from Andi standing in the doorway. "What are you going to do about this?"

"Nothing."

"Sir, you can't just let them overrun this place! We've worked too hard to get it back to what it was!"

"Lionel," Novak finally named the man. "Are you questioning me?"

The man tried choking out, "N-no, sir."

Novak stared coldly into his eyes. "We got what we wanted from Andi, she is no longer useful."

"But sir, we only go two pints from her."

"Which should be more than enough." Novak took a deep breath. "And I am bored of her."

"Already?"

Novak nodded. "Yes. She is not as fun to play with as I thought she would be."

Lionel gave a nod. "Well, we have had to keep her sedated."

"I know." Novak thought for a moment before rising from his chair. "Come, Lionel, it is time for us to leave." Novak went into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a pistol before walking towards Lionel.

"But what about them? The files? All the work we've done?"

Novak gave a soft chuckle. "Oh, Lionel. None of that was actually here. Everything here is just a copy, some of it just a brief summary of what we have. And besides, this place will still be here when we get back." Novak patted the man on the shoulder and walked out of the office, Lionel following him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Two on your left!" Hannibal called to Deadpool as he shot a vampire bitty that was headed for him. They were in a lounge area, five floors up, and they were being surrounded by vampire goons and bitties.

"I got them." Deadpool holstered his pistol, drew one of his katanas, and sliced the heads off of the two vampire goons just as they came within reach, turning them to dust. "Thanks."

"No problem." Hannbial replied as soon as another goon jumped him. The goon started beating on Hannibal, and Deadpool leapt toward him, grabbed the goon by his shirt, and launched the bloodsucker across the room. The goon hit the wall hard, and fell onto a decorative pointy statue, and turned to ash.

As soon as Deadpool threw the vamp, he reached a hand out to Hannibal. Hannibal took it and Deadpool pulled him up. "Thanks, Wade."

"Anytime." Deadpool turned around and had a vampire coming at him, but Hannibal pulled out a pistol and beat him to the punch line. "There's some stairs over there." He nodded toward the door marked "STAIRS" ahead of them.

"Oh, and I'm sure you always point at things with a gun."

Hannibal tilted his head in a lightly. "Don't you?"

Deadpool broke out into a smile. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Come on, let's go." Hannibal started walking toward the stairs.

"No! Seriously! You just made a joke!" Deadpool took a quick look around the mostly empty room. "Hey, ashes! Hannibal King just made a funny!"

"I'm leaving you behind." Hannibal went through the door and it shut behind him.

"Oh come on! Can't you take a joke?" Deadpool asked to the door. When no answer came, he said, "Hey, wait up!"

Deadpool ran after Hannibal and followed him into the stairwell. They went up the stairs and exited on the next floor.

"Well, that was disappointing." Deadpool said as he saw the empty hallway. Seriously, it was a grey hallway with one door at the end of it. "And a little bit cliché." Deadpool took a few steps forward. "I wonder what's behind door number one!"

Hannibal took a step forward. "Let's just keep going up! I know this building; the rooms are on the twentieth floor. Let's go get Andi and get out."

"Oh come on," Deadpool said as he reached the door. "What's the harm?" He opened the door and saw an extremely large walk in freezer. There were long metal racks full of pints of blood, all hanging, clustered in groups by type.

"Wade, come on!"

"Hannibal you should see this!" Deadpool called as he entered the room.

Hannibal groaned and went down the hallway and entered the room. His jaw dropped when he saw the racks and racks of blood. "This is freaky."

"You know," Deadpool commented as he came across a different storage device for the blood. "I've seen and done some weird ass shit in my time, but this one," He gestured to the thing in front of him. "Takes the cake."

Hannibal caught up to him and stared at the large plastic bags with humans inside. "Holy fuck."

There were a dozen people lined up, all in air tight bags, with tubes running blood from them to a large machine which separated the blood into large bags of the various types.

"Abby told me about something like this a couple years ago. Keeping the victims alive: never ending food source."

"That's sick, even for me."

Deeper into the room, an object shifted and fell to the floor, making a noise.

"Let's get out of here." Hannibal said, tapping Deadpool's arm and heading out of the room.

"Yeah," Deadpool said absentmindedly, still looking at the bodies. "Let's go." He finally pulled his eyes away from the bodies and followed Hannibal.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"How many more floors?" Deadpool whined as he dragged himself up another flight, wheezing and trying to catch his breath. He was over exaggerating.

Hannibal looked up and saw a large 'SIXTEEN' written on the platform they were coming up to. "Four."

Deadpool let out a large groan. "Go on without me. I'll just stay here and die." He collapsed on his back onto the steps and played dead.

Hannibal stopped and looked at him. "Seriously?"

Deadpool groaned in response.

Hannibal sighed and went over to the mercenary. "This is embarrassing." He mumbled to himself. He looked at him for a moment before kicking Deadpool in the shoulder. "Get up."

"Can't. I'm dead."

Hannibal kicked him again. "Come on, get up."

"Still dead."

Hannibal groaned. He was acting like a child. "If you get up now…then…I'll let you…kill the bastard that got Andi."

Deadpool immediately rolled over to his stomach. "You thought that was debatable?"

"It is now."

Deadpool glared at Hannibal for a minute before he hopped up. "Alright, let's go."

Deadpool got in front of Hannibal and led the way up the next four flights of stairs, Hannibal smirking slightly at Deadpool's renewed energy. Once Deadpool got to the twentieth floor landing, he kicked open the door and was once again met with by a hallway, only this time, there were multiple doors leading to various rooms. The hallway seemed to go on and on; there were so many doors that it looked as if there were no end.

Deadpool grabbed a pair of pistols from his hip holsters and turned toward the left side of the hallway. "You got the right?"

Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Deadpool sighed. "When I say, 'You got the right,' you're supposed to say, 'Only if you've got the left.'"

"What?"

"Never mind!" Deadpool groaned. "You're a horrible sidekick!" He yelled right before he kicked in the first door, only to find the room empty.

Hannibal followed suit, and kicked the first door on the right: another empty room.

They both went down the line, kicking in door after door in the seemingly endless hallway. Hannibal and Deadpool got to about halfway through the doors when they heard a faint, "Hello?" coming from further down.

Deadpool's head perked up immediately and went down further. "Hello? Andi?"

"Wade! Shut it!" Hannibal went after him.

"Andi! Come on, speak to me!" Deadpool shouted.

When there was no answer, he kicked in door after door, on both sides of the hallway, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Each time one door was kicked opened, Deadpool would take a quick look inside before turning and heading to the next door.

After five doors, Hannibal stood still and warned him, "Wade."

"Did you hear it?" He kicked open another door.

"Wade."

"I heard it! She's here, I know it!" He kicked open another door, but there was still nothing.

"She's not here, Wade."

Deadpool stopped and turned to him, a dangerous look on his face. "Don't tell me that. She's here. I know she is…I just need to find the right door."

"Wade, she's probably on another floor, we can check-"

"No! She's here." Wade kicked open another door, and the room was empty.

"Wade, come on, we shouldn't waste any more time."

Deadpool took a deep breath. "One more door. Just…let me check one more door." Without waiting for an answer, Deadpool turned and looked at the two doors that were in front of him. He had opened every other door aside from these two. He stared at them for a moment before he mumbled. "Left or right?"

Hannibal looked at him almost with pity. "Right."

Deadpool was about ready to kick open the right door, when he stopped himself, and turned to the left door. He grabbed the door handle and halted, giving another look at the door on the right.

Hannibal finally took pity on him, and went to the door on the right and grabbed the handle. "On the count of three."

Deadpool nodded. "One."

"Two."

"Three." Deadpool opened the door and looked inside.

There was a table in the room with a sort of inclined bed, like a hospital bed. And sitting on that bed, was a girl with dark hair and pale green eyes looking at him strangely as she swung her legs back and forth as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"Hello." She said to Deadpool as he stared.

It him a second to respond, but he smiled and said, "Hi."

"Who are you?" She asked as she tilted her head slightly.

Deadpool's eyebrows knitted together. "Andi, it's me. It's Wade." He reached up and took his mask off.

She slowly shook her head. "I don't know a Wade."

His smile faded completely and he took a step forward. "Yes, you do. I'm Wade. I'm your partner."

She continued to shake her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you."

Wade nodded and took another step toward her. "Yes you do! We've known each other for years, I live in your house, I-y…you're my best friend." With every sentence, his heart was breaking just a little bit more.

"I'm sorry," She continued. "I don't mean to upset you, but…I really don't know you."


	20. Chapter 20

"Yes you do!" Wade repeated and he advanced toward her, grabbing her shoulders. "You know me!"

"Let go of me!" The girl yelled and tried to squirm away, which only made Wade hold on tighter.

"Let her go, Wade!" Hannibal yelled at him. He grabbed Wade's shoulder and tried to pull him away from her.

The girl started to kick at Wade when he wouldn't let go, and caught him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him, and loosening his grip just enough for her to get away. She scooted a foot away and hissed at them and Hannibal pulled Wade away a foot more.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Hannibal yelled at him. "She's obviously been-" He was cut off by a foot hitting the side of Wade's head and sending him flying away.

"Don't you _ever_ fucking touch me again!" The girl yelled when her foot came back down to the ground.

"Hey! You stay back!" Hannibal got between her and Wade.

"The same goes for you!" She hissed at him.

Wade groaned on the floor in the hallway. "What in the name of Bea Arthur?" He grabbed the side of his head and tried to sit up.

"Hey, you alright?" Hannibal asked him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Wade grumbled and he sat up.

Hannibal turned to the girl who was still poised and ready to fight. "Hello," He tried the 'nice' approach. "Um, my name is Hannibal, that poor helpless fool on the ground over there, is Wade. What's your name?"

She remained taught as she debated on answering. "Andi."

"Andi," Hannibal gave a small smile. "What a lovely name. Well, Andi, we…are here to help you."

"I don't want your help!" She dropped her pose. "I'm fine where I am!"

"Do you even know where you are?" Wade sassed.

"Yes!" The girl sassed back. "And it's better than where you're at, baldy!"

Wade rubbed one hand over his bumpy but hairless head. "Wade, don't." Hannibal warned.

Wade just shook his head. "Oh, this _bitch_." Wade launched himself from where he was sitting and tackled her onto the metal table. He punched her in the face once…twice…and she thrust her hips up and kicked Wade over her and off of the table. He quickly got back up, and she jumped off the table and tackled him back to the ground. She got a few hits in before he threw her against a wall. Wade stood up while she slightly recovered and grabbed the back of her head and stood her up just enough so that her feet would drag. She gripped his hands and dug her nails into them, but he did not seem to notice.

"Alright," He growled as he dragged her to the table. "Let's try this again: We are here to rescue you, Andi."

"I don't want to be rescued, baldy." She said through her clenched pointed teeth.

"Wrong answer." Wade bashed her head into the table.

"Wade!" Hannibal yelled, but he backed down slightly when he saw Andi still conscious and fighting.

"Now," Wade continued and pulled Andi's now slightly bleeding head away from the table. "We're going to try this one more time: We are here you rescue you, Andi."

Andi took a ragged breath. "Fuck you."

"Alright then." And Wade hit her head against the table again. And again. And again. He was about to hit her head against the table one more time when her hands fell away from his and fell limp. "Oh, shit." He whispered and dropped her gently to the ground. He became very worried and cradled her in his lap. "Andi? Andi, please don't be dead." He touched her hair and smoothed it back.

"Wade, grab her and let's go." Hannibal reached toward him but Wade just swatted his hand away.

"Andi please!" He gave her a small shake.

My eyes shot open and I grabbed Wade's head and rolled him over so that I was now above him. "Wade," I growled as I sat up on my own and rubbed the going-to-be-horribly-bruised part of my head. "You can be such a dick sometimes."

"Andi?" He perked up like a little puppy.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me. Who else would it be? Jeepers, you hit hard." I looked at him and gave him a small smirk.

"You're back?" Wade questioned, raising an eyebrow.

I tilted my head slightly to the left. "I left?"

Wade chuckled as Hannibal just looked on confused.

I smiled, "It's good to see you."

He gave a one-sided smirk. "It's good to be here."

My smile widened and I fell to his lap and hugged Wade tightly. He broke out into a smile and held me tight. Hannibal waited a moment before clearing his throat.

"Shut up, Hannibal." I said quickly and only held onto Wade tighter.

"Oh, well I just wanted to let you know that we probably have about two minutes before a herd of vampires come find us. Not to put a damper on this very touching moment." Hannibal leaned against the doorjamb with a small barely-there smile.

I snuggled my face into Wade's neck to pull away, and it was just so…soft, and I could feel the slightly racing pulse, and it was just so…tempting. I opened my mouth just enough to rake my fangs on his neck, and then I continued until my teeth were almost ready to close around that deliciously pulsing vein-

Wade pushed me away from him, kept me at arm's length, and gave me a weird look. "What are you doing?"

I tried to get back to his neck, but he pushed me away again. "I just – I ju – Please one taste!" I jerked toward him but Hannibal jumped up and grabbed the collar of my black short sleeved sweater and pulled me across the room. "Please! I just need a little bit!"

"When did you last feed?" Hannibal asked as he reached into his pockets.

"I…I…haven't…I haven't…but I'm feeling it now! I need it!" I reached for Hannibal but he put his foot on my chest and kept me down as he continued to search in his pockets.

"I know I brought a vial with me." He mumbled. He reached to a lower pocket and felt a smooth glass object. "Got it." He pulled out a small vial filled with blood. I immediately jumped for it, but Hannibal put more pressure of my chest and pushed me back down. "Stay down or you're not getting it."

"Hannibal, please! I'm so thirsty!" I cried.

"Stay down or you don't get any!" He said in his most authoritative parent tone. "Understand?"

I nodded quickly, and lay still as I watched him kneel down and open the tube. The smell was so deliciously potent and I sat up to get closer, but Hannibal pushed me back down again.

"What did I say?" He pulled the vial away from me.

"I'm sorry! Please! Please let me have it!" I lied back down.

"Okay, just lie still." He brought the vial back. "Open your mouth and tip your head back." I did as I was told, and he brought the vial to my lips. The red liquid poured down my throat and left a metallic taste in my mouth. God it was so good! I grabbed Hannibal's hand and tipped the vial up to get more, and I got a little too much and gagged slightly.

"You're okay, just relax." Hannibal cooed as he brought the now empty vial down and gently pulled it away from me. I tried to follow it, but Hannibal pushed me back down. I was so tense and I was breathing heavily, I was shaking, and I couldn't keep still.

"Wade, can you hold her please?" Hannibal said back to the mercenary who had been staring on, very unsure of what to do. When he didn't move, "Wade," Hannibal called again. He was trying to put the vial away, but I kept reaching for him.

Wade finally got up and came over. He sat next to me and pulled me into his lap, holding my arms down by crossing his around me. He pressed his mouth to the side of my head.

"Relax." Hannibal repeated as he softly rubbed my head. "You'll be alright. This will end very, very soon."

It took a minute or so, but the shaking slowly subsided and my breathing went back to normal.

"You okay?" Wade asked me and I looked up at him.

I slightly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." I shook again and Wade held me tighter.

"Sure you are." Wade said completely unbelieving me.

"No, really, I'm fine, I promise, Wade. I'm okay."

"She'll be alright for a little while, but that fix isn't going to last forever." Hannibal cut in. "We have to go now."

Wade reluctantly let me go and I staggered up with Wade following close behind me and being 'spotter ready'. "Alright, I'm ready to get out of here."

"Thank God, let's go." Hannibal pocketed the now empty vial and went out into the hallway.

I stood up straight, and Wade kept a hand on my shoulder. "Wade," I chuckled slightly, "you can let go now."

"Uh huh, _sure_ I can. The moment I let you go you're going to fall flat on your face."

"Wade, let the kid go so we can get out of here." Hannibal's voice came from the hallway. "Come on, we're going to have company soon."

"Company?" I questioned. "You mean you guys didn't clear out the building?"

"Well we were more concerned-" Hannibal began.

"Jeepers Creepers! Do I have to do fucking everything around here? My goodness you lazy pieces of…" I mumbled as I walked away from Wade and toward the stairwell.

"Well excuse me, Miss Ungrateful." Wade snapped at me. "You know, we were really worried about you-"

"_You_ were worried." Hannibal corrected him.

Wade groaned. "Fine. _I_ was worried. And you know, if you had just called-"

I turned sharply around, grabbed Wade's shoulders, and looked right into his eyes. "Wade, I am okay. You don't have to worry anymore. We're going home."

Wade just took me in for a moment before he nodded. "Okay, let's go home."

"Great! I'll meet you and Hannibal downstairs." I walked into the hallway.

"Wait, what?" Questioned Hannibal as Wade followed me into the hallway, all the while utterly confused.

I turned sharply around. "Well, since you two knights in shining armor didn't clear out the building, who knows what could be waiting in the shadows for us as we make our way down."

"What's your plan?" Hannibal crossed his arms over his chest.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet. But I bet I'll think of something soon!" I said quite cheerfully. A moment later, "Oh, I got it!"

Without saying another word, I headed toward the door that led to the stairs. "Wait!" Wade's voice stopped me. I turned back around and he reached around and pulled off the backpack that was strapped to him. He turned to Hannibal. "She's still fang-y, right?"

"Yup, just a little less bite-y. For the moment. As in, we don't have much time before you try to eat Wade again, so let's get the fuck gone!"

"Um…" I looked down at the latest outfit that Novak had sent to me: dark blue skinny jeans, a pair of black converse wedge heels, and a black halter top that did not exactly have a back to it…Needless to say I was not really ready to go into battle. "I know that I can do pretty much anything…but skinny jeans aren't really meant for running."

"Yeah, and you probably shouldn't go into the sunlight what with the whole 'turn-to-ash' thing. So," Wade opened the backpack and pulled out a big ball of black and red fabric. "I thought you might need-um…_want_ this." He held out the bundle of fabric, and I smiled as I took it from him.

"Thanks, Wade. You didn't happen to pack any shoes in that back pack of yours, did you?"

"Um," Wade opened his backpack again and reached down into it, searching through all of the pockets. "Sorry, no." He was looking at me sheepishly.

I gave a short sigh. "It's okay, I'll make these work. I mean, if Wonder Woman can run and fight in high heels, I can do it. Right?"

Wade nodded his head with an uneasy look on his face while Hannibal stood there very confused.

"Who's Wonder Woman?"

Ignoring Hannibal's question, I grabbed Wade's backpack from him and pushed the two men out of the room. "Alright, y'all need to wait out here while I change." Before they could say anything, I shut the door on them and began changing into my reverse Deadpool costume.

Hannibal looked over at Wade. "Is she _always_ like this?"

Without hesitation, Wade replied, "Yes. Absolutely." He slipped his mask back on. "Better get used to it, bucko."


End file.
